My college career will begin this fall, and lately I have been thinking back to my high school experience and about what I want my college career to look like. I keep thinking about a really amazing English teacher I had during my junior year of high school. He made me realize that writing is not just what it seems on the surface. He made me realize that writing is a special virtuosity that I can form in my head and put on paper. This particular English teacher happens to be my favorite teacher. He taught me more than the correct way to use commas or the art of the Shakespearean sonnet. This teacher taught me a lot of life lessons, as cliche as it sounds. One story that he told the class has really stuck with me and whenever I am stressing out about school and homework this story pops into my head. I do not know what spurred him to tell us this story but I am really glad he had.
One day, while he was studying, he heard a knock on the door of his college dorm. It was his friend asking my teacher to take a walk with him. Now, I imagine my teacher to be a lot like me; a student who studies way too much for their own good. So, of course, he declines the offer. And his friend looks at him and says that my teacher will never remember this night if he sits in his room and studies. What he will remember is the day he went on a walk with his friend. So he went. And to this day, he remembers that night very clearly. And he keeps that memory very close to his heart because his dear friend made a huge difference to him. If my teacher had spent the night as he planned, it would have just blended in with the other nights he did just that. Another blurred memory in the slideshow of the boring and stressful aspects of college. As he was telling the class this story, he had the slightest of smiles on his face and we knew that he looked back at that night so fondly.
So when I have not looked up from my piles and piles of books because I have been obsessing over studying, I will go on a walk. And I will remember it. Because I am going to make memories. There is a time for studying and there is a time for fun and I will find that balance. I plan on saying yes to more things. I plan on making my happiness, and sanity, a top priority. There will be more than enough opportunities to study and there will be more than enough opportunities to spend night after night doing school-related tasks. But there is nothing like going on a walk.
One day, while he was studying, he heard a knock on the door of his college dorm. It was his friend asking my teacher to take a walk with him. Now, I imagine my teacher to be a lot like me; a student who studies way too much for their own good. So, of course, he declines the offer. And his friend looks at him and says that my teacher will never remember this night if he sits in his room and studies. What he will remember is the day he went on a walk with his friend. So he went. And to this day, he remembers that night very clearly. And he keeps that memory very close to his heart because his dear friend made a huge difference to him. If my teacher had spent the night as he planned, it would have just blended in with the other nights he did just that. Another blurred memory in the slideshow of the boring and stressful aspects of college. As he was telling the class this story, he had the slightest of smiles on his face and we knew that he looked back at that night so fondly.
So when I have not looked up from my piles and piles of books because I have been obsessing over studying, I will go on a walk. And I will remember it. Because I am going to make memories. There is a time for studying and there is a time for fun and I will find that balance. I plan on saying yes to more things. I plan on making my happiness, and sanity, a top priority. There will be more than enough opportunities to study and there will be more than enough opportunities to spend night after night doing school-related tasks. But there is nothing like going on a walk.
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