The Tripod

Aside from reading, sleeping, and watching football, my winter break this year was woefully unproductive. Yet, when I wasn't vegging out, reading The Fountainhead (read it if you haven't), or sleeping in until two o'clock in the afternoon, I often found myself questioning my collegiate lifestyle.

At this year's perennial Hull family Christmas party, I ran into a very eccentric uncle of mine, with whom I bitterly argued for hours while simultaneously enjoying one-too-many Blue Moons. Despite my inebriated state, the conversation was coherent and thought-provoking.

My uncle, a Boston College alumnus, tirelessly asserted how wasteful, albeit fun, of a time college is. According to him, college was no more than a world of hedonism and busy-work: "What's the hardest thing you do in college? Write a goddamn paper? Wait for the real world!" he laughed. "Relish every moment of it, because it'll never get any better than this…"

These types of comments infuriated and insulted me; how dare he trivialize the position of a college student? Brazenly and defensively, I retorted, "I spent every hour of every day in the library during finals week! I had four tests and two ten page papers in one week!" Some hyperbole aside, I was speaking the truth; my last week on campus had been the most difficult and stressful week of work I had ever faced.

Predictably, the argument went nowhere; neither of us was willing to concede. But over the next few weeks, I revisited the conversation in my mind and realized that, in fact, neither of us was correct. Rather, it seems we were both missing the point entirely.

My uncle and I were both equally wrong, our shared fundamental fault being our tendency to focus on the negative: While he nostalgically pined for an earlier day, I pessimistically shot down his romanticized notion of college.

My uncle's assertion that college is the best time of one's life, despite its possible truth, carried with it some ominous implications: If it is so important to cherish every moment of college, it logically follows that the so-called "real world" must be unwelcoming. That is, by asserting that life never gets any better than college, he tacitly asserted that life after college is lacking something.

By the same token, as a college student, I noticed that I had taken much of my college experience for granted. After all, what beats representation without taxation? Exams and papers are a small price to pay for an otherwise awesome four years. Heck, even writing papers can sometimes be fun.

Ultimately, I've concluded how important it is for me to count my blessings every day. Whether a college student or a fifty-year-old parent of three, everyone has something to be thankful for. Cynicism and dwelling on adversity are counter-productive and unwarranted, especially for Trinity students, considering the uncommonly cushy circumstances under which we all live.

Of course, even in college, life is never perfect. For while we are exempt from paying taxes and attending marriage counseling, we are hardly free from the universal stresses of living life. So maybe my uncle's notion of consciously relishing every moment of college was impractical. But taking a second every so often to consider all that is good in your life is not only very practical, but also cathartic and refreshing.

And, as college students, we should all be looking forward to - not dreading - our futures. Instead of viewing college as an isolated four-year break from the dreaded "real world," we should see it as a time to lay the foundation for an even brighter future. (Also, since my class doesn't graduate until 2011, we all might be able to get actual jobs!)

At any rate, I'm sure it's now clear that I had way too much down time over break.

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