Going to college is like living in your own little bubble. Your priorities are school, your health, and maintaining and building relationships (not necessarily in that order for everyone). Your biggest worries are maybe the paper you need to write, that interview on Friday, when was the last time you went to the gym?, laundry is piling up and clean underwear sounds pleasant, what are your plans this Saturday night, and why isn’t that guy responding to your texts. All of those “issues” seem so relevant in college because that makes up your existence.
But, sometimes, especially myself, a good reality check is needed and necessary to help keep in mind, there’s life outside of college and the world doesn’t revolve around my selfish life. Especially as teenagers and young adults, we’re intrinsically self-centered, and when life decides to show you that’s not how it should be, it can be extremely eye opening, shocking, upsetting, and a plethora of other emotions.
I’ve had two recent reality checks, the first made more of an impact, though, but I’d like to discuss both. A friend had texted me that there was a message on Facebook from her, and when I read it, I should be sitting down. I assumed it was about she and her boyfriend, so while amongst a group of friends I proceeded to read a devastating tale about a friend I used to work with. Said friend had suffered a heart attack, several mini strokes, a blood clot in her head, and wasn’t breathing on her own. I called my friend and proceeded to repeat the phrases, “I can’t believe it” and “Oh my gosh,” for twenty minutes and then as I cried a close friend comforted me for about an hour.
Earlier that day I was frustrated because classes had been cancelled and I had work to finish that could no longer work on. I was worried about upcoming events and deadlines. I was just existing in my bubble, and this terrible news, it shook me. Life is so fragile, and in an instant it can be severed or change forever. Luckily, my friend is doing so much better, breathing on her own, posting things on Facebook, and recovering, and I am so thankful. Sometimes in college, I forget to take the time to care for my friends and family that aren’t with me. I can get so caught up in the now, and my life, that birthdays slip by unnoticed, writing letters gets put on the back burner, making phone calls just seems to take up too much time from my life. And that shouldn’t be the case because you can’t get time back and you don’t want to regret not talking to someone or telling someone you love them because you were living in your bubble.
Today in my Nonfiction II class, we discussed minimum wage jobs, welfare, and economic status because we had just read a passage from Barbara Ehrenreich’s book, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America. The information is unsettling. How do single mothers work two jobs and pay rent and buy groceries to feed their children? How can anyone work two jobs, barely sleeping, barely getting by, and just to survive? How do people manage to stay positive about life while suffering this special kind of miserable penury? I don’t know, and this reading, really shook me. I am so grateful that I am even going to college and receiving an incredible education because not everyone has that opportunity because of finances. I know I complain that some of my friends have things handed to them (cars, college tuition is paid for, rent is covered by their parents, etc), but just the fact that I am here means a lot to me. I’m fortunate that I don’t have to work and put myself through school (I’ll just be in debt when I graduate). I may not be swimming in money, but I have a meal plan that supplies me with food every day, I have a comfortable dorm, and am living with a friend, and I have transportation to get me places, and I can afford extra items, such as frozen yogurt when I crave it or a blazer for a job interview.
We all have our selfish moments and sometimes we merely exist in our own little world, but in the bigger scheme of things, nothing is as bad as it seems. Though we think our problems are massive and terrible, somewhere out there someone has it so much worse. So next time I am stressing over a paper I need to write, I am going to take the time to appreciate that I’m learning at college and have the opportunity to gain an education by writing this paper. Reality check: I don’t have reason to complain.
Live, Laugh, Lyrics 