2008 Woodie Awards
The Last Straw:
Missing life's simplicities
Issue date: 11/2/05 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Evan Hampton
News Editor
I feel like a big-deal reporter, bringing you the news and events from the road. This past weekend, I went home to Virginia to spend time with my family and give them a chance to know my girlfriend. It's a very adult feeling to bring home your significant other to meet the family. Believe it or not, we are adults. Within the video game players, the people fretting over a physical science test and that soul watching evening television is an adult. And like most adults, we're neck deep in stress.
Saturday, my girlfriend and I went with my parents, my sister and brother-in-law and some of their friends on an 8-mile bicycle ride downtown alongside the James River. In all honesty, I have not felt that relaxed and peaceful in quite some time. I had been telling myself to finish this project, or type that paper, but in spite of it all, I've forgotten to have a little fun as well.
As I was showing my girlfriend old family photos, something about reliving memories just made me feel so old. Granted, I'm just 22 years old, but have you ever had a memory that causes you to say, "That feels like it happened just yesterday?" That was how I felt as I was looking at old photos and we took a drive to see the house I grew up in.
Looking at my old house just caused me to remember good and bad things that I've experienced. Some rather embarrassing experiences, like carrying around a blanket for the longest time. Other things are rather funny, like when I got mad and broke a window because my mom wouldn't let me go to the grocery store. You heard me right: the grocery store.
Growing up was a simple time for all of us, but as adults, when do we ever look at life's simplicities?
About once a week, an event happens to us in class that makes the rest of that day and week crappy. For me, it's having one paper after another with a due date that couldn't be at a worse time.
We get easily tangled in the problems we have with the school or with a certain professor or assignment and we forget that our days are short. Nothing bothers me more when I want to hang out with friends and they're too busy working on homework. Put the pencil down, hide the calculator, and go to Waffle House with some friends, where Spanish flash cards won't do you one bit of good.
Too much stress can kill a person, and my thin body can only take so much. What about yours? I think every professor would rather their students be healthy than half-awake in the morning when we enter the classroom, tumbling over our own feet. Just breathe, because I know there can't be a more simple concept out there than that.
It took bike riding and childhood memories to get me stress-free. As I was pedaling with my family and just admiring my surroundings, I realized that there is no other place I'd rather be. Finishing a paper at 3:00 a.m. won't relieve pressure, but just take a breath, take a break and take one of life's simplicities and live it up.
News Editor
I feel like a big-deal reporter, bringing you the news and events from the road. This past weekend, I went home to Virginia to spend time with my family and give them a chance to know my girlfriend. It's a very adult feeling to bring home your significant other to meet the family. Believe it or not, we are adults. Within the video game players, the people fretting over a physical science test and that soul watching evening television is an adult. And like most adults, we're neck deep in stress.
Saturday, my girlfriend and I went with my parents, my sister and brother-in-law and some of their friends on an 8-mile bicycle ride downtown alongside the James River. In all honesty, I have not felt that relaxed and peaceful in quite some time. I had been telling myself to finish this project, or type that paper, but in spite of it all, I've forgotten to have a little fun as well.
As I was showing my girlfriend old family photos, something about reliving memories just made me feel so old. Granted, I'm just 22 years old, but have you ever had a memory that causes you to say, "That feels like it happened just yesterday?" That was how I felt as I was looking at old photos and we took a drive to see the house I grew up in.
Looking at my old house just caused me to remember good and bad things that I've experienced. Some rather embarrassing experiences, like carrying around a blanket for the longest time. Other things are rather funny, like when I got mad and broke a window because my mom wouldn't let me go to the grocery store. You heard me right: the grocery store.
Growing up was a simple time for all of us, but as adults, when do we ever look at life's simplicities?
About once a week, an event happens to us in class that makes the rest of that day and week crappy. For me, it's having one paper after another with a due date that couldn't be at a worse time.
We get easily tangled in the problems we have with the school or with a certain professor or assignment and we forget that our days are short. Nothing bothers me more when I want to hang out with friends and they're too busy working on homework. Put the pencil down, hide the calculator, and go to Waffle House with some friends, where Spanish flash cards won't do you one bit of good.
Too much stress can kill a person, and my thin body can only take so much. What about yours? I think every professor would rather their students be healthy than half-awake in the morning when we enter the classroom, tumbling over our own feet. Just breathe, because I know there can't be a more simple concept out there than that.
It took bike riding and childhood memories to get me stress-free. As I was pedaling with my family and just admiring my surroundings, I realized that there is no other place I'd rather be. Finishing a paper at 3:00 a.m. won't relieve pressure, but just take a breath, take a break and take one of life's simplicities and live it up.