A Reflective Essay
A clicktap tap tapback spacetap tap taptype ‘I think’
Life beyond college is just as confusing and indecisive as that essay I am desperately trying to formulate. Your college education is supposed to prepare for that, they say. But the truth that I realized recently is that it is not the college that should prepare me but my own consciousness. With the waves of lectures and homework and party invites that always seem to end up with everyone passed out, it would be so easy to drown in the present. I did drown once. But then, what? Contrary to popular belief of students, college does not last forever. Sooner or later, we would have to face the world beyond our college’s green lawn.
I myself am still struggling with the question of what my future will look like. Most of the time, it is like viewing something from behind the blurry lenses of a camera. But then again, maybe I should just readjust my focus. It’s time to set my priorities straight and that, I think, should be the first part of anyone’s plan for the future. After all, it is hard to make decisions when you don’t know your goal. Once the goal is set, it’s time to set the plan in motion.
When I was younger, I used to think that I would be able to afford a nice house and a nice car in my first salary but then reality knocked at the door and I learned that before I get to that point, I would still have to endure the body heat and sweat of people in a cramped train ride when I apply for job. There are no shortcuts to these things and even if there are, what is life without its challenges? As they say, chocolate tastes sweeter when you’ve tasted something bitter. It’s the principle of things to appreciate things that you have worked for rather than things that were easily handed to you. Of course, sometimes it is nice to receive things without having to break your back for it but the keyword there is sometimes. I learned learn ago to not get used to these things. It will spoil you and in the end, you’ll be the one suffering. Picture a person who is used to the icy eternal winter of the poles and then suddenly, without any transition whatsoever, you place him in a tropical country. That frustration is likely what you will experience if you become used to not doing anything on your own.
In the end, college can only give all of us resources to help us survive in the real world and not the academic world we are currently trapped in. It is up to us to use those resources in order to plan for our fast-approaching future. I, for one, would like to use those resources wisely. Time flies fast after all. I don’t want to wake up one day with the loud speaker of the school announcing my name on our graduation and me having no idea what to do. It’s time to be prepared and it is time to do it now.
