And quite suddenly it's over and done with, just like that. Poof, bang, gone. The past five years have been quite interesting and good, and are suddenly and simply done.
It's a really weird feeling.
One of the best things is the ability to remember everything and everyone. Of course, I still have friends I will be visiting now and then, so that encroaches on any really solid sense of finality I was expecting. Then again, that might be due largely in part to the fact that the first three days of graduated life were devoted to busily cleaning a house and yard, sometimes til 2400.
Anyways, I have a perhaps-obligatory "What I Learned in College" sort of blagh today. It's short. It may sound jaded and cynical, and I make no apologies.
-I'll be honest: the only reason I went to college was because I had no idea what else I would do with myself. It was, in fact, the best decision I think I could have made, and I'm overall very pleased with the past few years of life.
-After one semester, I found I had little to no patience for kids in high school. After doing my time at Tech, I've realized I have little to no patience for childishness in anyone, especially in people whose birth certificates claim them to be adults. I can no longer abide foolishness. As an aside, foolishness and being silly aren't necessarily equivalent. This realization has also pointed out to me that I can be a royal ass to people I'm not especially fond of. This is unfortunate.
-I learned what "flip cup" is, and that I have no particular interest in it whatsoever. Similarly, I learned what Johnny Walker and Wild Turkey are, and that they make for fantastic sipping drinks when accompanied by friends, a porch, and a cigar.
-On that note, friends are invaluable (see the last item in this list).
-"Know thyself." You must honestly evaluate and know yourself, know what you're like and not. Sometimes that involves killing your pride and getting over the pretense you've made of yourself, and that's good. Hard, yes, but good.
-Living in a house off campus can be a pain, but living on campus is worse. The responsibilities of house/yard maintenance and bill-paying are nothing compared to mandatory quiet hours, the inability to properly have guests or burn incense, and mandatory hall meetings. Plus: living off campus, you can escape the Swine Flu and the sororities (Two-Minutes Hate ENGAGE), and you can cook your own food. Living off campus will also teach you, if you have housemates, how to deal with the occasional crazy person.
-The world is both a good and a bad place. Fight accordingly.
-I learned to ask "Oh really?" A lot of things in life are fictions (thanks, Snake). We make stuff up and say it's important, like "You must go to college," "You have to do college in four years," "If you're not an engineer and you aren't in these organizations, aren't on the honor roll and don't do all these things, you're worthless and dumb," "Gotta make a lot of money," etc. GPA is meaningless. Doing college in four years? Also meaningless. Mocking people who transfer to other schools because they don't fit academically? New Mexico Tech, you're so arrogant. I thought the point was learning, not showing off.
-Drunk people are funny until they're in your house.
-I still have no idea what I'm "supposed to do with my life." I don't think we have to know that, because I think the notion that there's one thing you are supposed to do is very boring.
-The most important thing I learned was this: people are more important than academia. I fully encourage and emphasize learning and thinking, but none of that can replace people. Whether you like it or not (I don't entirely), you need people: the physical/emotional/financial/spiritual/mental support and encouragement; the help with homework; learning new things and understanding things better, the list goes on. People are really dumb and hateful, yes, but are also brilliant and wonderful. There is much to learn from people.
It's a really weird feeling.
One of the best things is the ability to remember everything and everyone. Of course, I still have friends I will be visiting now and then, so that encroaches on any really solid sense of finality I was expecting. Then again, that might be due largely in part to the fact that the first three days of graduated life were devoted to busily cleaning a house and yard, sometimes til 2400.
Anyways, I have a perhaps-obligatory "What I Learned in College" sort of blagh today. It's short. It may sound jaded and cynical, and I make no apologies.
-I'll be honest: the only reason I went to college was because I had no idea what else I would do with myself. It was, in fact, the best decision I think I could have made, and I'm overall very pleased with the past few years of life.
-After one semester, I found I had little to no patience for kids in high school. After doing my time at Tech, I've realized I have little to no patience for childishness in anyone, especially in people whose birth certificates claim them to be adults. I can no longer abide foolishness. As an aside, foolishness and being silly aren't necessarily equivalent. This realization has also pointed out to me that I can be a royal ass to people I'm not especially fond of. This is unfortunate.
-I learned what "flip cup" is, and that I have no particular interest in it whatsoever. Similarly, I learned what Johnny Walker and Wild Turkey are, and that they make for fantastic sipping drinks when accompanied by friends, a porch, and a cigar.
-On that note, friends are invaluable (see the last item in this list).
-"Know thyself." You must honestly evaluate and know yourself, know what you're like and not. Sometimes that involves killing your pride and getting over the pretense you've made of yourself, and that's good. Hard, yes, but good.
-Living in a house off campus can be a pain, but living on campus is worse. The responsibilities of house/yard maintenance and bill-paying are nothing compared to mandatory quiet hours, the inability to properly have guests or burn incense, and mandatory hall meetings. Plus: living off campus, you can escape the Swine Flu and the sororities (Two-Minutes Hate ENGAGE), and you can cook your own food. Living off campus will also teach you, if you have housemates, how to deal with the occasional crazy person.
-The world is both a good and a bad place. Fight accordingly.
-I learned to ask "Oh really?" A lot of things in life are fictions (thanks, Snake). We make stuff up and say it's important, like "You must go to college," "You have to do college in four years," "If you're not an engineer and you aren't in these organizations, aren't on the honor roll and don't do all these things, you're worthless and dumb," "Gotta make a lot of money," etc. GPA is meaningless. Doing college in four years? Also meaningless. Mocking people who transfer to other schools because they don't fit academically? New Mexico Tech, you're so arrogant. I thought the point was learning, not showing off.
-Drunk people are funny until they're in your house.
-I still have no idea what I'm "supposed to do with my life." I don't think we have to know that, because I think the notion that there's one thing you are supposed to do is very boring.
-The most important thing I learned was this: people are more important than academia. I fully encourage and emphasize learning and thinking, but none of that can replace people. Whether you like it or not (I don't entirely), you need people: the physical/emotional/financial/spiritual/mental support and encouragement; the help with homework; learning new things and understanding things better, the list goes on. People are really dumb and hateful, yes, but are also brilliant and wonderful. There is much to learn from people.
3 comments:
johnny walker black - sipping while enjoying a cigar on the porch of a non-smoking room hotel during a rain storm is also a good way to think and relax.
Enjoyed reading this
Oh yeah... crazy person. >_> I remember being there for that one.
Glad to hear you're on the other side though! Welcome back to the land of the 'living' ;)
We actually had a crazy person this last year too. It was like living with Sailor Moon.
Ah! It's good to have broken on through to the other side, yes indeed.
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