Today was graduation day. Not for me, but for the second years who thus by nature are infinitely more wise and experienced and ready-for-the-world than us menial first-years. I am really happy for them. I was fortunate enough to become friends with several second years, which only made the day a little more tough on my sensitive emotions. Nonetheless, I know they're off to change the world, in whatever way that may be: international policy, domestic policy, nonprofit management, private sector, etc. Today was the day, as the class speaker said, that they changed from "future policymakers" to just plain "policymakers." Wow.
Anyway, by far the best part of the already short ceremony was when the student-nominated speaker got up and spoke about something so simple as happiness. Yes, a speech on happiness definitely has the potential to turn awry, but I gave him a chance, and it turned out to be a good decision on my part. Basically, his speech was simply a really eloquent way of having the audience question themselves about their meaning of friendship, and what makes them happy? Ben, the speaker, concluded that friends make us happy. I couldn't agree more. Friendships and relationships naturally come with the potential for frustration, heartbreak, disappointment and separation, but those are the risks we all take by 'accepting' our friendships and developing them into whatever they become. The time we spend with our friends --whether it is studying, eating, cooking, making fools of ourselves, or reflecting together--helps shape us into who we are and what we become. And while there may not be any certain distinguishable moment of are friends really 'shaping' or changing us, it just happens. And that in itself is, not to sound cliche, a really beautiful thing. And that, my friends, is the type of thing that makes me really nostalgic and happy, and reminds me of how blessed I am to have all my amazing friends and family in my life.
I was really *happy* that Ben decided to talk about happiness, especially in the way he did. The last thing graduate students need to hear before leaving academia is about our "potential," "intellect" and "accomplishments." While obviously graduating from graduate school DOES involve all of these great things, I think it's so much more meaningful to emphasize the aspects of our time at school outside of the classroom to reflect on who we are, as real people.
Maybe I'm totally overreacting to a simple graduation speech, but it just made me really...happy!
Congrats to all you Bushies! I'm excited to see where we all end up!
So...what's happiness to you?
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Times they are a changin'
I didn’t know what it was at first. Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying my time here in grad school—as much as one can enjoy endless hours of mind-numbing readings—but something just wasn’t right. It was until tonight, when I ‘became a fan’ of an old high school friend on facebook who has taken up singing and songwriting. Listening to her lyrics and hearing the calm music made me realize my problem: my creative instinct has been sedated since coming here.; I feel suffocated! I’m not blaming the Bush School for doing that; rather, I think I just thrive in environments where I am surrounded by a diverse group of individuals who make me…make me not take life so seriously. I am referring both to my time at Southwestern, as well as my time abroad. I love exploring, sitting under a tree and enjoying the moment, taking in a deep breath of the fresh air, laying under the sun and the stars, and just taking every moment for what it’s worth.
I don’t want to steal my above friend’s thunder, but I’ve always loved singing. I may or may not be blessed with a good voice, though my younger brother always complimented me years ago (maybe just to be nice, maybe to boost my ego…who knows!), but I’ve always thought it was something only those select and very lucky people ever get to actually do. But, as my friend has proven, anyone can do it, AND be good at it! I’m not suggesting that this is a cure to my boredom or dissatisfaction (because I’m not really THAT dissatisfied!), but it might hold a lucky charm somewhere down the road…
In the meantime, however, and although I recognized my “problem” earlier last semester, I think I’m going to go find more interesting things to do here in College Station! I don’t want to say that there’s nothing to do here, because there is, but…there’s not THAT much to do, nor do I have a lot of time! Nonetheless, maybe hitting up a new trail on the bike will be good, a swim in Lake Bryan, a picnic outside, or just going outside and enjoying it more! That was one of the greatest things about Southwestern to me: we had this huge lawn (we called it “the mall”) out in the middle of campus where people would play Frisbee, hang out, read a book, or a take a nap. If it was a sunny day, you could bet big money on there being at least a small crowd out there (or at Lake Georgetown…). Being outside not only calms me down, it allows me the chance to take in a few extra breaths of fresh air and refuel. I mean, going to school with a bunch of hippies might have had something to do with me feeling more at ease there, too, so who knows…the conglomeration of all aspects of Southwestern’s environment and atmosphere was really special.
It was definitely a HUGE culture shock not only to leave super liberal Southwestern and come to uber conservative College Station, but also to leave a small school environment and come to a huge campus where I feel like a needle in the haystack…The Bush School is different from the main A&M campus, though for some reason (probably all of those mentioned above) I feel like I have a stick up my ass here and I can’t be my goofy, lighthearted self anymore! And that, more than anything, annoys the hell outta me! (I hope this isn’t a natural part of growing up…)
Remedy? Well, a few more hours in the day would help, but really, I just need to try and revisit my old self…gee, I sound like I’m a completely different person now, but I’m not, I promise… I just feel off. Though, now that I can really identify why I was feeling so off kilter, I can fix it, right?! I also plan to be spending more hours out of the Bush School, and outside instead! I know this will help!
I guess I’m just a tree hugger kind-of-gal.
I don’t want to steal my above friend’s thunder, but I’ve always loved singing. I may or may not be blessed with a good voice, though my younger brother always complimented me years ago (maybe just to be nice, maybe to boost my ego…who knows!), but I’ve always thought it was something only those select and very lucky people ever get to actually do. But, as my friend has proven, anyone can do it, AND be good at it! I’m not suggesting that this is a cure to my boredom or dissatisfaction (because I’m not really THAT dissatisfied!), but it might hold a lucky charm somewhere down the road…
In the meantime, however, and although I recognized my “problem” earlier last semester, I think I’m going to go find more interesting things to do here in College Station! I don’t want to say that there’s nothing to do here, because there is, but…there’s not THAT much to do, nor do I have a lot of time! Nonetheless, maybe hitting up a new trail on the bike will be good, a swim in Lake Bryan, a picnic outside, or just going outside and enjoying it more! That was one of the greatest things about Southwestern to me: we had this huge lawn (we called it “the mall”) out in the middle of campus where people would play Frisbee, hang out, read a book, or a take a nap. If it was a sunny day, you could bet big money on there being at least a small crowd out there (or at Lake Georgetown…). Being outside not only calms me down, it allows me the chance to take in a few extra breaths of fresh air and refuel. I mean, going to school with a bunch of hippies might have had something to do with me feeling more at ease there, too, so who knows…the conglomeration of all aspects of Southwestern’s environment and atmosphere was really special.
It was definitely a HUGE culture shock not only to leave super liberal Southwestern and come to uber conservative College Station, but also to leave a small school environment and come to a huge campus where I feel like a needle in the haystack…The Bush School is different from the main A&M campus, though for some reason (probably all of those mentioned above) I feel like I have a stick up my ass here and I can’t be my goofy, lighthearted self anymore! And that, more than anything, annoys the hell outta me! (I hope this isn’t a natural part of growing up…)
Remedy? Well, a few more hours in the day would help, but really, I just need to try and revisit my old self…gee, I sound like I’m a completely different person now, but I’m not, I promise… I just feel off. Though, now that I can really identify why I was feeling so off kilter, I can fix it, right?! I also plan to be spending more hours out of the Bush School, and outside instead! I know this will help!
I guess I’m just a tree hugger kind-of-gal.
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