“Do you know where you’re going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you? What are you hoping for? Do you know?”
Diana Ross probably is not singing about your particular situation, but she does cut straight to the heart of the matter: What the heck are you doing with your life?
Although many don’t know that answer to that question, don’t make the mistake of ignoring the issue. Instead of filling your life with “what ifs,” take life by the reigns and make education and learning not just “book work.”
Knowing yourself, your desires and wishes is the key to developing as an independent and self-driven individual… at all stages of life, especially at college. I don’t want to sound like a guru or a counselor, but just taking some time and figuring out why you make choices and what your goals are can only explain your current situation and clarify your future.
College offers well-rounded degree programs to desiring students who aren’t closed off to experiencing new situations, exciting people and experience opportunities. Why waste this time treating it like a stepping stone to the rest of your life? College is your life now.
Live it.
When I ask my composition students why they are at college, I never hear what I think to be the only true reason to do anything, “Because I want to.” Typically, I hear students excuse their college education by responding with “I want to get a good job,” or “My parents are paying for it,” or “It’s just what you do after high school.”
Realizing that every encounter can be a learning opportunity is only the beginning of learning about yourself. I see undergraduates roaming about campus and they remind me of the junior high students I substitute teach.
College students wandering aimlessly, attached to their cell phones, ready to socialize at the drop of a hat. It seems that they only define themselves by how other people define them instead of thinking for themselves.
College is no longer an experience that is worthwhile on its own accord. And I’m not endorsing rampant alcoholism, binge drinking and keg parties as the way to “experience college.”
Having no regrets means that you learn from your mistakes and experiences knowing that what you’ve been through is not worthless but instead a character builder.
Why not live every day at college for the day that it is? Know that college years are a special time to explore who you are, what you want, what you like and simply to learn.
A college campus is a Mecca of learning and culture. Experience college as what it offers and not simply as a means to an end.
I’ll leave you with a thought from the master of going with the flow, Lao-Tzu. In the Tao Te Ching, he says, “Knowing others is wisdom; knowing the self is enlightenment. Mastering others requires force; mastering the self requires strength.”
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“College students wandering aimlessly, attached to their cell phones, ready to socialize at the drop of a hat.”
Not to disparage this column, which is thoughtful . . . but what is wrong with wandering around? (Don’t you ever wander?) What’s wrong with talking on my cell phone? (Do you have a cell phone? Do you use it?) And what’s wrong with being ready to “socialize?” (Surely you’ve socialized?)
“A college campus is a Mecca of learning and culture.”
I think my couch is a greater mecca of learning and culture than a college campus. A college campus is more a mecca of promiscuous sex and binge drinking.
Diana Ross was talking about living a life without having someone to love.