I started off this week in a semi-crappy way. My first class of the week is Asian Religions, and it's at 9:45 AM. I usually get there 10 or 15 minutes early because I can't stand being late. But this Monday, there were signal problems and a medical emergency on the Q line, so I was stuck on the train in Brooklyn for a long time. I originally thought I was going to be only 10 or 15 minutes late. Boy, was I wrong. As I stood on the train and watched the minutes pass, my frustration grew and grew. I was fuming. I ended up coming to class 35 MINUTES late. I have never been this late to a class in my entire life. By the time I came to class, I had calmed myself down and just accepted it. I'm lucky that my professor is super nice, and she didn't mind me coming late. The point is stuff like this is bound to happen in life. Let yourself get frustrated, but remember that in the grand scheme of things, this moment won't even matter. Fun fact: I actually came 15 minutes late for my first college class back in freshman year. Guess why? Medical emergency on the train. Sigh. As a commuter student, I'm always at the mercy of the MTA.
In my religion class this week, we've been discussing The Bhagavad Gita. One of the points that Krishna makes is that we should work without expecting a reward. It's an interesting concept because we live in a world where our every action is done in order to "get ahead". We are always interested in doing whatever is necessary to get to the next level. Ambition is a great thing, but when we are always focused on getting to the next thing, we don't enjoy what we are doing at the present. I know that this is a huge problem for me as a pre-med student. Pre-meds are constantly under pressure to make sure they finish all of their required coursework and do well in all of their courses. After months of doing this, we lose interest in the subject we are learning. We just worry about the next science course we have to take or the next volunteering/internship opportunity we should take advantage of it or the next research lab we should join. It's always about just doing, doing, doing with the intention of getting that awesome reward, getting into med school, and of course, getting the ultimate reward, becoming a physician. How about we just enjoy one class at a time and one opportunity at a time without thinking so much about the end result? We would learn so much more and feel so much more fulfilled.
There's been a lot of talk about General Petraeus on this blog, and I figure that I should give my two cents. Personally, I don't think he should be teaching at CUNY. I believe he took this job for purely selfish reasons, and he doesn't really care about any of us. But those protests got out of hand. People were following him, and shouting at him. Even though I dislike the man, it was hard to watch. I feel that having these kinds of protests will accomplish nothing because it's too easy for the administration to say that the protests are out of hand and to just completely ignore the issue. I think that having a meeting where all sides of the argument get to be heard is the best option. This afternoon, there was a meeting at the Macaulay building to do exactly that. I have no idea how the meeting went, but I hope that the administration understands why the students are so frustrated. They need to listen to us because college is about the students and not about the people who are on top and making all the money. There are dozens of amazing academics out there. Why does Macaulay need this one? I don't want us to be known as the program that Petraeus used as a stepping stone to regain a top position in society. We are the problem-solvers of tomorrow, and we deserve better.
Since I don't want to end this post with talking about Petraeus, I'll end with something more positive.
A few weeks ago, I went to my bio advisor's office hours to ask some questions. At a certain point in the conversation, he asked me "What do you want to be when you grow up?" It's been so long since I've heard that question. I feel like everyone assumes that we are grown up, and it was nice to hear him ask me that. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm not in any particular rush to grow up. Here's to always asking yourself that question.
S.
Quote of the Week
“What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.”
~ Kurt Vonnegut
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