The College World
I am not a political writer; I am an observer. While some of my
columns may concern current events, I prefer my writing to focus on
aspects in life we all think about, but rarely slow down to
consider. Life can seem so full of controversy and politics, and
I’m not going to lie – I get sick of it. I know politics are an
extremely important issue, but I also think sometimes it’s nice to
get away and tune out the real world. It’s important to take
advantage of the simple things in life that are easy to enjoy, and
that don’t always get the attention they should.
One of the biggest challenges we face in college is the
knowledge that when it’s over, it’s over and we have to move on
with our lives. This, along with the constant reminder from friends
and family to take advantage of these years, provides us with some
ever-so contradicting advice. Since college doesn’t last forever,
we should enjoy and make the most out of it. However, we also need
to use this time to our benefit because the real world is harsh,
and if we don’t prepare now we’ll never make it. John Lennon
believed that “life is what happens while you are busy making other
plans.” And in a sense it’s true, because as we consume ourselves
in this balancing act, we overlook the little things that help make
college so unique.
Some of life has to be planned, and therefore it may also mean
that there is more to life then what we know exists in our own
world. We are so concerned with everything going on in our lives
that we forget to slow down and take in our surroundings.
College is a world of its own, and that is one of the greatest
advantages of being a student. Although the majority of the people
who crowd our campus are strangers to us, oddly enough they feel
familiar, people we feel an unspoken connection with, even though
we don’t know why. When else besides college will we be able to
feel reassured walking into a room, where we have a seat that has
unconsciously been assigned as ours, and feel comfortable with the
person sitting next to us. While we may not hang out with them
outside the class hour, that doesn’t mean they haven’t had an
impact on our college experience.
It is these people who surround us every day without our
planning, who help make up our college world. Furthermore, without
even trying or knowing, you are that person to someone else. We may
not keep in touch, nor may we ever exchange a hello, but they still
made it into our lives. While we may only share class discussions
and not lifelong dreams, they still helped to create the world in
which you now live.
So, next time you walk by a familiar face on campus, smile
knowing that they recognize you too, or one day will – that fact
alone can be as comforting as a good friend. The next time you
share an opinion or a conflict of interest with that person next to
you in class, absorb it as you would a good book. And the next time
you walk through campus, stop to take it all in and appreciate all
that you have at that exact moment. Because life goes on without
you, but that is part of what makes it so worthwhile.
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