I'm sitting here in Johnson A103 for the last time probably ever. It's so weird. My roommate is gone, and so are the majority of my belongings which my parents came to get today. I'm annoyed with myself for putting my journal in a box that went into my parents' car today. I was prepared to right a long winded report on my feelings for the year... well I wasn't sure what I was going to say exactly, but I was prepared to attempt to sort it all out. It sucks becaues I only have about four pages left in my journal from freshman year, which would have been pretty good for tonight. As a result not having it though, this blog entry may be a bit more personal than usual, so prepare yourself.
It's interesting because I actually selected another journal at Border's tonight--not my ideal idea of one, but somewhere in the right direction. It's got a drawing of a woman on the cover with a tear going down her cheek--sad, yet beautiful at the same time... sort of like life I think. I just tried to find a link with a picture of it, but I was unsucessful. Maybe one day you'll see it and just know. Anyway, so I bought that journal tonight, but I can't start it yet. I think I'll hold onto it until sophomore year.
So I sat in Border's for a while and stumbled across the realization that tonight would actually be good for me. At first I was dreading the time alone tonight in my nearly-abandoned room, but then I came to relish the idea. One last night at Wake for my freshman year--and a night to be alone! I finally have some time to reflect on my experiences this year. I don't think it'd be nearly as effective to do this at home because home is just an entirely different atmosphere. It's so still here tonight. Eerie almost, but peaceful. I sat outside for a while and only saw two people. The campus really is so beautiful, but it's also sort of fake. It really is only beautiful to lure you into coming to the school. Young, naive idealists take a look around the campus and sigh in content. It seems like the weather is always gorgeous when lots of people are visiting. It's so darn tricky. Classic example, right? Things aren't always what they seem, you can't judge a book by it's cover, beauty is only skin-deep, etc., but who listens to cliches anyway? They're just too... well, cliche.
So I wonder what it would have been like to go to a different school. My life would be so different now... or at least that's what I think. That's the problem--there's no way of knowing really. That's what sucks. I wanted to go to multiple schools to try them out, you know? Go to the first two weeks at Wake, go back in time and go to the first two weeks somewhere else and pick. But then life isn't that easy unless you are one of those lucky people who doesn't over-analyze everything and always come up short and dissapointed. I don't really want to be one of those people though. I find myself struggling aggainst that. I couldn't tell you why exactly. I just want to live a real life and be content at the end of the day, you know? but then... how do you do that? If I knew that I wouldn't be writing all this I don't think.
I don't know. I had such high expectations going into this. Yeah, I sort of have high expectations for everything, which makes it all so harder, but so much more worthit when things actually seem to fall into place. I thought (no, hoped) that I'd find people here I really connected with--people I could actually have real conversations with. Small talk only to fill in the background and to suppliment personal information. Or even small talk that just wasn't forced. I hate that--forced small talk. Why the heck do we find it necessary? Why do you ask me "what's up?" when you've already passed me on the sidewalk? what the heck is that, anyway? How are you supposed to respond to that? "uhh I'm fine... I guess." I don't know. Most of the time I just shrug my shoulders when people ask me that now. I like Sarah Tullis's response of "good enough." It sort of makes people uncomfortable. I actually like to make people uncomfortable sometimes though. I don't know... it's sort of a sick game I guess. When I used to find pauses in conversations uncomfortable, now I relish in the awkwardness and anticipation of the person's next move. Darn it, it's fun being awkward sometimes... if only because it makes people actually stop and pay attention to their actions. It tends to put an end to the automatic responses or at least challenge them, and I like that. Conversation doesn't have to be dull. It shouldn't be, in fact. I've even found that it sometimes is even possible to really talk to people at wake. hard to believe of course. The few people that I have connected with give me hope, and I need all of the hope I can get. It's like they keep me from starving to death, but leave me hungry for more. I feel like I really am getting by in this state of near starvation. but I have really enjoyed the presence of a few people here, and I think (and hope) you guys know if I'm referring to you. I feel like only a few people have gotten to know me or at least gotten to know more than just the me on the surface. I wish there were some way of finding people at this school that I'd click with that would stick out the four years here. Yeah, I can understand the desire to transfer. trust me. but man, I don't know if I could handle having high expectations and being let down again. to be cliche, Wake really was a good example of a beautiful letdown, right?
So yeah, freshman year...
wasn't worth the fifty million dollars it cost to come here. Definately not. I feel like such a jerk for making my parents pay that much. I feel like I should at least pretend that I really enjoyed it here, but I probably won't. I'm trying to pretend less. So I'm not sure why I'm not transferring. I'm so darn stubborn--I dont' know if that's good or bad most of the time. I feel like I have to ride it out... like I'm obligated to stick around. I mean Wake needs people like us, right? I may fit the stereotype--darn this blonde hair and light skin tone, but darn it I don't feel like I really fit or that I even want to fit here. I think I might be more nervous if I did love it here. So where does that leave me? What can I conclude from this year? I've really come to appreciate the small things in life this year. I mean you really have to if you want to keep going. the squirrel pearched on top of the trashcan, dancing around at work with my co-workers to god-awful songs, the first sip of your favorite smoothie, running down the stairs, almost running into someone, lying down after a long night, late night discussions with the roommate, nailing parallel parking, reading in reynolda gardens, listening to the rain through the open window at night, walking back to the room on a quiet night, sneaking just a bit of lemonade into my water in the pit, walking bearfoot in the grass, becoming familiar with your professors' wardrobe, watching the sun hit only the tops of the trees at the end of the day, the list goes on.
OK, so I've spend more time alone this year than I had planned on, but maybe I needed that. I know I definately need it tonight for closure. It woudn't have done to leave earlier when everyone else was leaving. I really did need tonight to try to assimilate my thoughts and just ponder the year. I needed to be alone and to lock myself in my room. Man, I nearly spent an hour typing this out. So that's it... I'm leaving tomorrow to go on some retreat. then I'll be home for about five days before I'm back out at camp. We'll see how that goes...
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2 comments:
perhaps that's just it. your expectations. you had high ones and everything fell short of what you expected. seriously, try doing away with your expectations. you'll probably find yourself a lot happier. oh certainly have hopes and dreams, just don't base your happiness on them being fulfilled. take happiness not in the goal but in the process. like listening to the rain outside of your room for instance. doesn't something as simple as that boggle your mind at how cool and soothing it can be?
Just to add one thing, I've become pretty convinced that a lot of harm is caused by people their emotions in the wrong places. For instance, a lot of people become angry or disappointed due to the outcome of a game or their grade on a test. So the problem isn't having expectations; we can't help but having ideas about how situations will work out; but rather the way we become emotionally involved with our expectations.
It seems silly how emotional we can get about trivial and superficial things sometimes, such as what other people think of us or just random small things that sometimes frustrate us. Like when you were talking about having real conservations with other people; isn't that where emotion belongs, in our relationships where we try to see people for who they really are? Our emotions should be directed toward what we think is most important, and I can't think of anything more important than that.
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