Campus Life

Lessons not found in books

    It is hard to imagine that it’s almost time to say goodbye to friends; on Sunday December 9, 2007, students will graduate from Lock Haven University. It is a harsh reality to those of us still here, who know people graduating, that in fact our college lives will not last us forever; even though at times we do believe this.

    You know, professors say that you are supposed to study for at least two hours for each hour of class that you are in because what you are learning about is going to help in the future to get a job, to make money, and well basically live. Now don’t get me wrong. I completely understand the importance of class work, studying hard for good grades, and all that jazz. But let me ask you something.         

    Put yourself back into the college age years. Can you remember all that you learned in each class or can you remember that foot note, on the bottom of page nineteen in the big blue book? If you can, well that is good for you. While here at Lock Haven University, I have learned much about life, myself, family and friends by simply just hanging out and having “real life” conversations.  The friends you make in college leave a lasting impression upon your life. We see each other at our highest of highs; our lowest of lows. We help one another when needed, we give advice when able, and well we are just there.
   

You know, all the way from our elementary through our senior years of school, we were encouraged to be friends with everybody (well at least for the school’s I attended, it was this way). It was not hard to have at least one good friend whom you could go to for anything, nor was it hard to go down town and not see people whom would at least make small talk with you.

            In college though, it’s different. It is as though we are thrown into this big jungle with nothing and expected to survive. All the necessary elements are there, you just have to know how to use your skills. While in college, you have to take the initiative and use the skills you have to make friends; they are not just handed to you. We have to seek out people whom we would like to be friends with, and upon talking to them we get to  decide if they are somebody whom we want to take the time to get to know more. It is all on you. So when you find yourself in a group of friends, whom you can’t imagine living life without, then you are fortunate.

            I am one of those fortunate people. One part I love about college life, is when my friends gather in our apartment to just hang out and talk. The lessons I have learned through these talks are those that I will carry on with me for my entire life. It’s funny. The conversations go from A to Z. There are  nights when we just start talking about something as random as to if penguins have knees or not, to something as serious like  having children and wanting to be healthy; but if they aren’t, how do you decide what is best for the child?

            It’s during these talks that we get a better understanding of one another and their reasons as to why they think the way they do. It’s here, that we get different insights and perspectives on everything, that your eyes really open up and you become less  naïve about this world in which we live in. I mean, it’s easy to think that everything in life is full of rainbows and butterflies, but to truly understand life to the best of our knowledge, we have to know that there are downfalls. It is these conversations that have and will continue to help me grow, when I am faced with real life decisions.

            There is one thing however, that college and friends can’t teach you. They both do not teach how to say good bye to the friends in which you have endless memories, countless laughs, and secrets that fill the sky. They do not teach you how to not miss one another. I guess though, all we can do is hope that the relationships we have built with one another are strong enough to with stand the test that time and place have in line for us. If by chance though,  they are too strong of a force for us to continue to still be as close, then at least there is one thing we will always have:  great memories from the best years of our lives.