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.