The Meaning of Life
Everyone has a different outlook on life. "This is college" has been a quote I have heard numerous times lately, but is it really an excuse? I mean, according to some people our lives are over after college, so should we live it up now worry about the consequences later while we still have the chance? Will we regret it later if we don't?
This week I had a conversation with two girls in very different stages of their college experiences about where they wanted to go in their lives and how they were going to get there. Girl number one is a freshman who was frantically trying to find a major. She was searching the university website reading all she could convinced she had to make the decision right then and there. She was seriously flipping out. On the couch across the room girl number two was sitting enjoying her spring break from student teaching. She is about to graduate in a month and said, "I don't even know what I want my major to be." She doesn't know if she wants to teach next year, she really just doesn't know what she wants to do. She has sent out applications for next year but right now she is most concerned with enjoying the end of her college experience and having fun. Her view is, what is the worst that can happen? She will have to live with her parents for a year while she figures things out. Is that really so bad?
My second conversation of the week was with a friend from high school who is not coming home this summer so he can instead stay at school and take summer classes. I was very disappointed when I found out he was staying at school for the summer. He informed me that he was under a lot of stress. When I inquired where this stress was coming from he informed me he was putting it on himself. He thinks he needs to know right now what he is going to do with the rest of his life. My response was we have two whole years of college left to figure that out. Simultaneously he stated that college was half over and time was running out. Two very different views on the same situation.
I guess this is mostly just rambling but I found all this to be quite interesting. What makes one person flip out about something they really can't fully control and another just sit back and say, hey, I am just going to go with the flow and have fun?
(Sorry if you feel I wasted your time with my ramblings.)
This week I had a conversation with two girls in very different stages of their college experiences about where they wanted to go in their lives and how they were going to get there. Girl number one is a freshman who was frantically trying to find a major. She was searching the university website reading all she could convinced she had to make the decision right then and there. She was seriously flipping out. On the couch across the room girl number two was sitting enjoying her spring break from student teaching. She is about to graduate in a month and said, "I don't even know what I want my major to be." She doesn't know if she wants to teach next year, she really just doesn't know what she wants to do. She has sent out applications for next year but right now she is most concerned with enjoying the end of her college experience and having fun. Her view is, what is the worst that can happen? She will have to live with her parents for a year while she figures things out. Is that really so bad?
My second conversation of the week was with a friend from high school who is not coming home this summer so he can instead stay at school and take summer classes. I was very disappointed when I found out he was staying at school for the summer. He informed me that he was under a lot of stress. When I inquired where this stress was coming from he informed me he was putting it on himself. He thinks he needs to know right now what he is going to do with the rest of his life. My response was we have two whole years of college left to figure that out. Simultaneously he stated that college was half over and time was running out. Two very different views on the same situation.
I guess this is mostly just rambling but I found all this to be quite interesting. What makes one person flip out about something they really can't fully control and another just sit back and say, hey, I am just going to go with the flow and have fun?
(Sorry if you feel I wasted your time with my ramblings.)