It’s only January, and it already feels like I’ve been back in Bloomington for a full semester.
Now this may sound a bit glum, especially given my column’s sunny tagline, but bear with me; I promise you that the confusing, angst-ridden diatribe I’m about to bestow upon you has a positive resolution.
Between balancing two jobs, a social life, seventeen credit hours, a new major, a long-term relationship and a barrage of small crises with fits of self-doubt, these 23 days of January 2012 have weighed upon me more than any other brief time period in recent memory.
John Mayer expresses some of the frustrations of youth in his song “Quarter-Life Crisis,” but I’ve always been ahead of the curve.
Having just celebrated my 20th birthday, I’m already going through what I’ve dubbed a “mid-college crisis,” feeling pangs of insecurity regarding my own hopes and aspirations, as well as the viability of my dreams, unsure of my ability to handle the emotional and physical tolls that life has a way of thrusting upon you all at once.
I can only imagine that I’m not the only college student in the world to have these experiences.
However overwhelming they have been, these past 23 days have taught me more than the previous three semesters combined, if not about public policy and proper grammar, then about what it means to be this age, at this point in life.
We are young.
Many of us would like to think that we’ve left the anxious, awkward days of adolescence behind, but the fact of the matter is that is takes a lot longer than years of puberty to figure out what you want from life and to come into who you are as an individual.
Heck, I know there are 40, 50, 60 and probably 90-year-olds who would probably say that they still don’t know who they are.
If you’re thinking, feeling and questioning, no matter how confused and lost you may seem, you are already well on your way to figuring things out and reaching a point of contentment and security.
Looking around, it’s obvious that almost everyone else in the student body is worried about classes, jobs and extracurricular obligations.
But there are bigger, less evident worries that tie us together as well.
Will I get a job after graduating?
Will the economy be any better?
Will I ever find the person of my dreams?
Will I be fulfilled?
Rather than burying ourselves in the questions that haunt us, the important thing is to embrace the unknown.
We’ll never be younger than we are right now, and it is essential that we welcome and cherish each day with both the struggles and the freedoms that it presents to us.
We may not have all the answers, but we can work toward finding them simply by living.
After all, the right answers we seek usually present themselves when we least expect it.
So give your roommate a hug and ask her how her day was.
Take a walk around campus, and take the time to smile at the people who walk by.
Drink tea and read a book.
Don’t be afraid to nurture a promising friendship, especially if it scares you.
Allow yourself to get lost in your dreams, but force yourself to snap back to reality when it’s necessary. Don’t neglect the beauty and opportunity of the present.
Life is a journey that we’re all traveling together, and especially at this unique and critical time in our lives, it’s important to remember that none of us are isolated in our uncertainties.
No matter how disarrayed things may feel, comfort can always be found in the fact that no college student, and in fact no human being, is ever truly alone.
— kabeasle@indiana.edu
