Voices

In the words of Cheap Trick, "Hello, it's me again." Not a particularly creative beginning, but hey, it's 3 a.m. over here, so cut me some slack. I'm just listening to my tunes and trying to memorize some Japanese, learn about systems, and preparing for an organic chemistry test, but I thought I should give my dedicated readers a little article to nibble on this week.

I'm sure you are discovering, as I am discovering, sophomore year is frickin' ridiculous. There is so much work that needs to get done. Each class seems to revolve around our majors. Each day gets us closer to graduation. And, I can't help but think, "Is this really what I want to do?" I have no clue what I want to do. Here I am; I'm twenty years old and you expect me to know what I want to do for the rest of my life? Ha! You'd think that twenty years of experience would have narrowed the choices a little bit, but it hasn't. Sometimes, I envy the caveman. He didn't have to worry about things like a job, money, relationships, or grades. He just had to worry about surviving. True, if you fail at surviving, it's the ultimate game over in life, but I would rather carry around a spear and hunt than survive in our modern world by finding food AND spiritual nurishment. Constantly asking ourselves, is this enough? Am I satisfied now?

I guess that's why I like to hike. When I hike, it's nothing but me and a dirt path. I wake up, eat, walk, eat, walk some more, eat, and sleep. It's basically a simple wash, rinse, repeat after that. Nothing to think about, but "I need to walk." It's as simple as that, no, "I have to be here at this place, at this time." Or a, "This isn't satisfying because Seventeen magazine doesn't have this written down in its top ten." I just want to do things for the sake of doing things. I want to enjoy the moment. At this moment, I'm enjoying the droop of my eyelids as I try and focus on typing this article, hearing the air conditioner's constant hum underneath the aria of "Ave Maria", and feeling my sweater gently hug my chest with the heat of my body. I want to enjoy these moments. Why do we constantly have to focus on the future? It's the present we live in and it's that moment that we should enjoy.

I don't know where I'm going to end up in 4 years and it's exciting. Do you really want to plan every step of your life? Don't you want to have a little risk in your life? Everything involves a little bit of risk. I will never forget the time when I jumped across the roof of my house to the roof of the playroom to apprehend the kid who stole my Easter eggs. (It's a long story and if you guys really want to hear it, let me know.) Sure, I could have fallen and broken something or even died I guess, but now, that Easter will be remembered as the Easter where Alex went ninja and jumped over some roofs to get his chocolate. That's risk! It creates memorable moments. And it doesn't always have to involve a huge amount of risk. Trying to open up my locked car with cardboard, nails, and extreme origami skills (good job Daniel) had it's own risks to it. Not only will I not forget that experience, but I will never forget my keys in the car again. For you romantics out there, isn't love a risk every time as well? Love is exciting for that reason: the risk, the unpredictability. You never know what is going to happen. This applies to life in general. Life shouldn't be planned, it should be lived. Lived with risk and enjoyment. So here I am, "planning" what to do for the future, but I think I will just concentrate on the walking or in this case, the "homeworking". Woot, I just created a new verb today.

I hope all of you other bloggers are doing well out there. I look on this site every day hoping for something new to come up. Some adventure and even misadventures to help me get by one more day. I love to hear about how you are feeling. It reminds me I'm not the only one struggling here. Stephanie, I hope you are enjoying MIT. I understand when it's just one of those days where nothing seems to go right and you wished that place would burn in hell. If you ever need a person to vent to, I'm always ready to listen here because sometimes I too wish that Terre Haute, Indiana would burn, but you know, I'm always glad to see it's still here when I wake up the next day. Daniel, I hope you aren't being swamped by too much work. Just remember to stop and take a breather now and then. I'm sure your church youth program is keeping you busy. Thank goodness for the activities which give us the breaks we need. And Andrew, I'm trusting you are still winning your yogurt bet. I just finished "How I Met Your Mother" and it constantly reminded me of my own friends and our own misadventures. I hope all of you are well and I hope to hear from you. Your chemical engineer in training getting back to his "homeworking".
- Senor B

P.S. The title of this post is the song "Voices" by Cheap Trick which begins with "Hey, it's me again." HA! Get it now? Genuis, pure genuis! *pats self on back