forgetting where i am

As I sat in the library (wishing it were warm enough to be reading outside) this afternoon, I was reminded how I forget or am just not fully appreciative of the resources and people around me. I am working on my synthesis, which will include reflections on various forms of worship creation, one of which may be the work of Eric Elnes. Rev. Dr. Eric Elnes is senior pastor of Scottsdale Congregational UCC (http://www.scucc.com/our_staff.cfm) The church has received significant attention for innovations in worship, many related to the arts. I discovered the Rev. Dr. Elnes had stayed across the hall from me over the weekend, though I knew he was connected to my fellow student and building-mate, it had not occurred to me that he might be physically accessible for dialogue. I've sat in silence over a meal with Rosemary Radford Ruether, too engaged in my eating to engage a great mind in dialogue. Tomorrow, I will have dinner with liberation theologian, George Baldwin followed by a class discussion with David Solnit. Solnit founded Art and Revolution, worked with organizing the protest against Taco Bell for fair worker's wages, the 2003 protest in San Francisco essentially shutting down the financial district, among a slew of other activist events in over 20 years around the world.
The list goes on and on of people making a huge difference, being recognized for it and being close enough for me to talk to, directly. I also find that there are actually people in the world doing similar work to me (integrating arts into social justice activism and faith communities) but why is it not till the fourth semester of graduate school studies that I am finding out about them? Did I not look hard enough? Was there somewhere that said, here's how to find people working in your obscure field, and I missed it? Or does the educational system (any of our systems/institutions for that matter) still cater so heavily to mainstream career paths, leaving those of us who don't fit into any of these paths to fumble blindly until we get lucky?
As for now I must prepare for tomorrow's dinner and class so that I cease to let opportunities pass me by.