So there we were my friends and I on the eve of senior year, classes were a day away and the bar seemed an appropriate setting to try and come to grips with our final year of college. As the night wore on, nostalgia took over. To be a freshman again – the excitement, the novelty – it was all gone.
Look at us, there we were relaxing over a few Red Stripes, while thousands of freshmen were unable to sleep, sweating with anxiety. Something strange had happened. Four years at Boston University and I must say, it has begun to get ‘old.’ Clarification is needed.
‘Old’ is common slang for boring, but I argue that it also suggests the natural growth of routine and habits. The spontaneity and excitement of my introduction to college life has given way to a standard routine.
The social scene tightens, circles of friends develop, randomness gives way to structure. I imagine most seniors would echo these sentiments. Friends, hangouts, bars – they are all chosen by now, college life is no longer a frontier of blissful ignorance. We are experienced and we have our routines. The nervous excitement of freshmen year is replaced by a wizened comfort zone of relaxation. Dorm life is long gone and even the rigors of Allston were mastered long ago. There is little left to experience.
Is this bad that college, the best time of my life, has become ‘old’? No, it shows how our lives are destined to be ruled by routines and structures. Excitement is a product of confusion, which is precisely what the first few semesters of school are. Experiences are new, experimentation is fun, you search for the elements that will define your life. Once you find them, there comes a sense of relaxation – this is who I am, it is comforting. College is considered the best time of your life and I am not one to argue that, but just as high school got old, so does college.
The problem is that from high school the pathway led to college, the fun was just beginning. Now the pathway is leading to the job market, fun is just about ending.
That is a bit too pessimistic, obviously the future holds many new and exciting experiences, but nothing will over compare to the first months of being an undergrad. Honestly, look at what the future really holds. America, like no other nation, advocates structure above all else. A 9-5 job, marry at 28, two kids by 35, a house in suburbia and a nice pension plan to retire on at 60; I love to generalize.
The point is that by becoming ‘old’, college has prepared me for a life of habits and routines; the maturity needed to accept adult life. We need this, and we want it, in varying degrees.
Depending on your personality, structure becomes vital, but with structure life inherently gets ‘old’.
Some of you may be skeptical, how can everyone desire structure and routines? I respond that if you want to see the most exciting life, you need look no further than the Store 24 at the Harvard Avenue T-Stop. There you will find the Harvard Avenue homeless men. They embody the antithesis of our lives. They wake to complete uncertainty everyday other than the likelihood of wasting their change on cigarettes and a bottle of Cossack Vodka. This is not boring, this is exciting. No schedule other than day and night and no agenda for the day: complete freedom to choose which corner to pass out on.
I do not envy their lives. My point here is that structure is a luxury, it is a vital component of American life, one that we all must learn to accept.
While college life may be ‘old’ it certainly will never be boring. This is crucial. If in fact everything in life (minus sex) will become ‘old,’ what are the elements that keep us from boredom. Of course this is subjective; individualism is founded on these decisions. What makes me happy? For example, I walk down Commonwealth Avenue with dark sun glasses and headphones on at two in the afternoon, the sun shining, beautiful ladies everywhere, I am happy, and no matter how much of a routine this becomes, I will always enjoy it. Or take The Simpsons, a show that will live forever in the world of syndicated reruns. Yes the show is old, the jokes are known, but it still is wonderful.
Contrast these examples to a house party in Allston. Warm Bud Light, Dr. Dre 2001, stupid meatheads, and eventually the Boston Police; I once could muster the strength to endure these scenes and perhaps even enjoy them. My tolerance for such situations has dwindled because they are boring; they are all the same and rarely enjoyable. Unlike the past when curious excitement proceeded the entrance to a big, sweaty party, I now fully know what to expect and thus rarely go.
Novelty and ignorance go hand-in-hand to make certain situations enjoyable, but time is the ultimate test as to whether these parts of life will remain truly worthwhile. Who needs this random confusion, when I can just hang with friends, relax over a nice bottle of Merlot, roll a fatty, and discuss the fate of civilization … Now I am just making things up, or am I?
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