Best Years
The 20s are all about living it up. There is no time like the present and time is of the essence now more than ever. All of those cliché things that people tell you about living in the moment, being where you are, and enjoying yourself ... just so happen to be true. College is one of those unique places and times in your life where you have little to worry about other than yourself. Your responsibilities are limited and your possibilities are seemingly endless. These really might be the best years of your life.
My journey during this senior of mine has been to figure out not only how to have fun or what my college experience has meat (because I'm annoyingly complicated and perpetually in this meta-state of self-reflection) but what I'll be doing when college is over. Newsflash, my graduation is only 106 days away. This year, this month, and even this week has been filled with some monumentally important advice from all the random people in my life. Professors, administrators, friends, family, and complete strangers all seem to be conspiring to tell me something profound in their own unique ways. They're saying, live it up dude - you're in college.
This won't last forever (aka the ticking time bomb that is my impending future) but this also most importantly doesn't have to be it. These may very well be the best years of your life but what I have come to understand is that you can make every year after these the best too. If this was it, then the 50 years would be nothing but a slow descent into times that were mediocre at best and I can already tell you my life is going to be anything but ordinary (it already is out there). With that hope and promise of a great life ahead, comes the decreased pressure of knowing exactly the trajectory I'll take to get to where I'm supposed to be. For now, I'm deciding to think about what I need for the next couple of years and to also actually myself for once. It's time. These are the best years.
My journey during this senior of mine has been to figure out not only how to have fun or what my college experience has meat (because I'm annoyingly complicated and perpetually in this meta-state of self-reflection) but what I'll be doing when college is over. Newsflash, my graduation is only 106 days away. This year, this month, and even this week has been filled with some monumentally important advice from all the random people in my life. Professors, administrators, friends, family, and complete strangers all seem to be conspiring to tell me something profound in their own unique ways. They're saying, live it up dude - you're in college.
This won't last forever (aka the ticking time bomb that is my impending future) but this also most importantly doesn't have to be it. These may very well be the best years of your life but what I have come to understand is that you can make every year after these the best too. If this was it, then the 50 years would be nothing but a slow descent into times that were mediocre at best and I can already tell you my life is going to be anything but ordinary (it already is out there). With that hope and promise of a great life ahead, comes the decreased pressure of knowing exactly the trajectory I'll take to get to where I'm supposed to be. For now, I'm deciding to think about what I need for the next couple of years and to also actually myself for once. It's time. These are the best years.
There's something so powerful about choosing to be a certain way and following through with it. In living through my senior year I have loosened the reigns a bit on making sure everything about me is perfect. I'm slowly, like a plant growing towards the sun slow, letting go of my unrealistic expectations for myself and others. It's a start, albeit a minuscule one, but one nonetheless. I have adopted this "best years" attitude as much as I can. I do what I can. I say what I would like to. I am the most me I can be. This part of my life is ending soon and I want to look and say that it meant something. I feel freer, better, and realer. What's the point of holding back? It's now or never. This is it.
This week had running around in the frigid temperatures like a madman. Tuesday was one of the busiest days I've ever had in college with classes meals with friends and meetings galore. I found time to catch up with one of fraternity advisors Sean and take about the important stuff in life with Sydney. I even caught up with one of my old friends from years past in Nic. I had dinner with Dylan and soon we were off to our fraternity info night, and subsequent video game extravaganza thanks to Max. Super Smash Bros. was epic with 20 people rotating between rounds. Gave me a chance to connect with some of the best people I know i.e. Elliot and Cam. Didn't make it home until 11PM and still had homework to do but I had made it a really good day. That's what's I'm choosing to make matter most.
The week continued to push me in striving to find balance between school and life (#thingsthatneverhappen) but I made it through my classes, complete with their quizzes and elevator pitch style presentations (even called my professor Tommy #nochill). Evening came and with it was the men's basketball game which ended up being uneventful until the final five minutes or so when the crowd went from reserved to ecstatic and shocked within a matter of seconds. The atmosphere was electric and I was able to hang out with Willy, Kyle, and my dude Benjy. Another long night of homework and little sleep but Thursday came and with it a cancelled class to ease the struggle. After receiving some bad news (as in being denied admission to MSU for graduate school) I moved on from it quickly and decided to hardcore job search. I spent most of the day browsing for cool jobs at Buzzfeed, Do Something, and Entertainment Weekly (wish me luck). The night brought some mood harshing melodrama over some chili but such is life.
Finished off the week with a fantastically embarrassing Friday. From breakfast to last minute paper writing (as always), some cultural racism acknowledgements in my political science class, to a great lunch with my buddy, Aaron. Caught up with my ever elusive fraternity advisor, Lane, and told a cute girl that I liked her face in a fumbling mess of word vomit. I made it through my last class with renewed conviction to get to the point and say what I was thinking rather than tiptoe others' unsupported findings (do the readings people, then let's have real discourse). Photoshoot time with some of the bros and dinner + video games with Benjy. For a solid 2 hours I was phone-less and it was amazing. We played, talked and ate. Left with 25+ messages to answer because that's my life apparently. The night ended with the classically chaotic events of the fraternity/sorority life chili cook-off. I did my best and that was all that was asked of me. People (exclude me from that) enjoyed themselves and that's what mattered. David and I power walked our way home through mountains of powder and I crashed, effectively signaling the end of the week. These are the best years.
My blog post question for the day is ... how do you make each day one of the best you'll ever have? Nowadays, I trying to live in the moment instead of worrying about the little things.
This week had running around in the frigid temperatures like a madman. Tuesday was one of the busiest days I've ever had in college with classes meals with friends and meetings galore. I found time to catch up with one of fraternity advisors Sean and take about the important stuff in life with Sydney. I even caught up with one of my old friends from years past in Nic. I had dinner with Dylan and soon we were off to our fraternity info night, and subsequent video game extravaganza thanks to Max. Super Smash Bros. was epic with 20 people rotating between rounds. Gave me a chance to connect with some of the best people I know i.e. Elliot and Cam. Didn't make it home until 11PM and still had homework to do but I had made it a really good day. That's what's I'm choosing to make matter most.
The week continued to push me in striving to find balance between school and life (#thingsthatneverhappen) but I made it through my classes, complete with their quizzes and elevator pitch style presentations (even called my professor Tommy #nochill). Evening came and with it was the men's basketball game which ended up being uneventful until the final five minutes or so when the crowd went from reserved to ecstatic and shocked within a matter of seconds. The atmosphere was electric and I was able to hang out with Willy, Kyle, and my dude Benjy. Another long night of homework and little sleep but Thursday came and with it a cancelled class to ease the struggle. After receiving some bad news (as in being denied admission to MSU for graduate school) I moved on from it quickly and decided to hardcore job search. I spent most of the day browsing for cool jobs at Buzzfeed, Do Something, and Entertainment Weekly (wish me luck). The night brought some mood harshing melodrama over some chili but such is life.
Finished off the week with a fantastically embarrassing Friday. From breakfast to last minute paper writing (as always), some cultural racism acknowledgements in my political science class, to a great lunch with my buddy, Aaron. Caught up with my ever elusive fraternity advisor, Lane, and told a cute girl that I liked her face in a fumbling mess of word vomit. I made it through my last class with renewed conviction to get to the point and say what I was thinking rather than tiptoe others' unsupported findings (do the readings people, then let's have real discourse). Photoshoot time with some of the bros and dinner + video games with Benjy. For a solid 2 hours I was phone-less and it was amazing. We played, talked and ate. Left with 25+ messages to answer because that's my life apparently. The night ended with the classically chaotic events of the fraternity/sorority life chili cook-off. I did my best and that was all that was asked of me. People (exclude me from that) enjoyed themselves and that's what mattered. David and I power walked our way home through mountains of powder and I crashed, effectively signaling the end of the week. These are the best years.
My blog post question for the day is ... how do you make each day one of the best you'll ever have? Nowadays, I trying to live in the moment instead of worrying about the little things.
Comments
Post a Comment
Share you answer to the blog post question of the day