Don’t waste your time waiting for life to happen
You know it’s winter in Logan when even the first week of a new semester has students unenthusiastically slogging their way from class to class. The full-throttle joy of fall 2015 is nothing more than a distant memory at this point. Instead, the frigid weather and pale grey atmosphere has everyone forced indoors watching Making a Murderer on Netflix because they feel left out of the Twitter conversation.
I’m not a speech-writer, nor am I particularly motivational, but I did have something of an epiphany over winter break. It’s going to sound cliché, but that doesn’t make it any less important.
You’ve got to start living your life.
The “real world” isn’t going to get dropped on your doorstep in a neatly wrapped package the day after graduation. This is it, right now, this very minute. Sorry for the unceremonious welcome.
Don’t fall for this condescending idea that you’re not yet in the real world because you’re a college student. You’ve got responsibilities. You’re probably going to school to earn a degree and working a part-time job to go to school, so tell anyone who says that’s not the real world to shove it.
Your current cycle of school-work-sleep seems impossible to break, but you probably have more free time than you think, and using it wisely will change your life. I’m not big on specific New Year’s resolutions, but I feel like I know my fellow students pretty well.
Half of you reading this have an out-of-tune guitar collecting dust in the corner of your bedroom, or it’s still in its case under your bed. You’ve been telling yourself to set aside time to play it for six months, but it just hasn’t happened.
Some of you actually really love sports, but haven’t been to a basketball game all year because you’ve got poorly-timed meetings on game nights. You’ve convinced yourself this isn’t a big deal, but you know that’s a lie.
Many of you are already rationalizing your occasional absence from the gym, despite assuring yourself “this is the year.”
I’m not qualified to be giving life advice, but here I go anyway. Pick up the guitar, get to next week’s game and take no days off. Get out of your apartment. Ask the girl out. No seriously, do that real soon; she’s cute and may not be single for very long.
Watch that Shia LaBeouf “Do it!” video a few times. Take a road trip with friends for a weekend. Pay attention to how much time you spend doing nothing. I love staying inside where it’s warm and knocking out entire seasons of Scrubs as much as the next guy, but it’s time to pull the plug.
I admitted from the beginning, it’s all very cliché. But your life won’t suddenly start when college is over. It’s happening now.
– Logan Jones is a junior majoring in journalism. He’s still adjusting to Cache Valley’s altitude after being in Oregon for the past month. Contact him with feedback at Logantjones@aggiemail.usu.edu or on Twitter @Logantj.