I don’t know how long this post will be or what sentiment it will ultimately convey. All I do know, as I begin to write this post is that I haven’t written in quite some time, which is quite disheartening. I believe my last post was on 1st of February.
College is passing by really quickly. To be very frank, this doesn’t perturb me. Largely because it’s helped me appreciate one of several fundamental differences between school and college. In school, as you grew older, and became a senior, time seemed to slow down when you did not have responsibilities or activities to do. Being studious and academic was an option left to explore. Time slowed down to allow you to enjoy every moment, every event taking place at school. Considering my school wasn’t a residential one, there were limitations on the amount of work a student could carry out for an event hosted on campus. In addition, faculty were always there to direct you and pick up slack if you forgot about something. That direction is invaluable.
College is different. Time doesn’t care if you’re bored. You could be doing absolutely nothing, but sleep will take up your time (and you will not get an opportunity to sleep, so you will utilize it to the maximum). Time doesn’t stop because you’re tired. Time doesn’t stop or slow down because you have too many things on your plate. People will not worry if you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. They will hand tasks over to you, and it is completely, entirely upon you to make it work. To finish those tasks, to finish that work. College is non-stop.
College is hectic. College is residential, so people will work day and night. People will work 24×7. People will be awake setting up for a concert at 1:30 AM, and hostel lights will be on at 4:00 AM because people are awake working on a moot. People will lose sleep. People will not be lazy and slack. People will work.
The hierarchy at college is pretty straightforward. Work is meant to be done by the students, the nature of which is determined by the year you are in. The workload varies, but the fact that time is insufficient, never does.
College can be counted by this lack of time. Or time, in general. College can be characterized by the amount of sleep you get. College can be broken down into weeks, days, hours, and even minutes. College can become scheduled.
But college can never be repetitive.
College can never be monotonous.
College can never, not be exciting.
College can never slow down.
College will never stop.
And that, is the beauty of it all.
My grandmother got worried and told me not to stress out about things. The last few weeks, and the next few weeks are quite “busy”. Stress isn’t optional. Stress is a permanent condition here.
But the stress is beautiful. It comes from working on things you are so committed to, and so passionate about.
You will never lose sleep for things you don’t love doing (like me writing this post at 2:30 AM)
You will never not have time to pursue passions, make memories with friends, stay in touch with old ones.
This is precisely why I love it.
I love college because I’m finding things I enjoy doing. Things I will never shy away from. And my earnest hope is that this continues for the next 4 years.
All this has come out of an immensely work-heavy past few weeks.
Curd rice out. (But still awake because work)
Tejas Rao 