The Time of My Life

Last night, I was a bit stressed with schoolwork, but came out to make some dinner (first meal of the day at 8pm). My roommate came out and we had a talk about school stuff. She naturally takes it really easy in school and life, leaving time to be lazy if she so chooses. A direct opposite of what I do all the time with enthusiastically piling too much stuff on my plate.

But there was one comment during the conversation she said that got me. Kim said, "I figure I'll take the fastest route of four years to get out of school. Then I can check 'get a degree' off my list of things to do. And once it's done, I'll be glad its over and then I can actually start my life."

"Check school off the list?"

This was a totally foreign thought to my current mindset. Back in high school, I had that attitude about school sometimes, but as I grew older that thought disappeared. There are some times I wish this degree was over, but more in the sense that I want to move on to the next degree. I was baffled that someone I knew would honestly want to do that to themselves. Kim even said she didn't really care what the degree was and doesn't really like the one she's doing.

So last night and this morning, whenever I could no longer bear the thought of writing about "primary and secondary values of subjectivity" my mind would wander back to these thoughts of life stages.

And it hit me really hard this morning how I will miss this time in my life when it's over. None of my peers discuss this fact. It's always how hard things are right now and how great it'll be when they're old and retired. And then I hear the older generation say that college was the "time of their life" and golly, they sure do miss it.

Kim wants to check “get a degree” off of her list as fast as possible, yet maybe that's why I act more like the second degree people. I am beginning to appreciate learning and this college environment I'm in. I enjoy listening to conversations of religion, economics, music, and math. I quite frankly love tutoring and would like to see about teaching.

It's true that I would love to be at Carol's current stage too. I'd love to have a family. To have a daughter to fight with, love, discipline, and make laugh. I'd love to have that one that I could share anything I wanted to with and laugh with. That deep, best friend love that ever deepens.

Yes, I'm really looking forward to that stage.

And at the same time, I'm happy with the stage I'm in. I recognize the stress (oh boy, do I!) and the pain and the struggles that never seem to end. But even seeing those, I know I'll miss these days when they're gone. And I know I'll be happy (and probably stressed) then too.

It makes me realize every moment God gives me is the "Time of My Life."