We were told to consider the importance with whom we're friends and what we do during our youth. "These are the moments you'll remember." "You'll be proud of this one day." Parents, elders, friends, etc repeat these phrases so frequently as to become cliched. The previous statements may be true on occassion, but others are outright flagrant in their idiocy. "College is the best time of your life," said the depressed middle-aged person. "High School is the best time of your life," said the severely depressed middle-aged person.
Don't take me for a self-denying curmudgeon, I enjoyed High School. I had trustworthy friends and a mostly strong cast of role models in my life. Those two things, in their immeasurably value, made me, as a young person, quite rich. College was more of the same, and on a more intimate level. I became very close with some professors, and have friends with whom I remain close today.
Is high school/college the best time of life, however? I hope not. That is not a maligned diagnosis of HS or college, but I have come to realize how much more possibility exists in the world. Namely, people. I believe, with absolute veracity that whereever you go in the world, Beijing, Angers, Sudan, Kuwait, you will find genuinely kind and friendly people.
Don't take me for a self-denying curmudgeon, I enjoyed High School. I had trustworthy friends and a mostly strong cast of role models in my life. Those two things, in their immeasurably value, made me, as a young person, quite rich. College was more of the same, and on a more intimate level. I became very close with some professors, and have friends with whom I remain close today.
Is high school/college the best time of life, however? I hope not. That is not a maligned diagnosis of HS or college, but I have come to realize how much more possibility exists in the world. Namely, people. I believe, with absolute veracity that whereever you go in the world, Beijing, Angers, Sudan, Kuwait, you will find genuinely kind and friendly people.
Meanwhile, any person, a HS student, college student, young professional, more experienced professional, etc, you have people around you whom you may consider close friends. People you would not want absent from your life.
Regardless of our position in life, we don't miss the people we don't know. This is a strange sentiment. We don't miss the people we don't know. I find it invariably true, however. I've never been to Hawaii. Yet, I am 100% confident that if I travelled to Hawaii, there are people with whom I would become acquanted, then become friends, and maybe become close friends. But I have never been to Hawaii, so I don't miss anyone there.
How could I miss Matt and Tricia? If I never went to Taiwan, I wouldn't miss them. But I did go, and I miss them. How could I miss Ben and Liz? If I never went to La Crosse, I wouldn't. I lived in Burlington, WA, so I miss Tarra. I miss my friend. We would sit up from the beach overlooking the Puget Sound, drinking tea, talking book talk or modern depictions Norse mythology. And then we'd watch as the sun faded and the lights of Vancouver, Canada would spring up like the warm candles in a cabin in the woods. A real cabin in the woods, like the one in Wisconsin, where I came from, which I will always be thankful for.
Regardless of our position in life, we don't miss the people we don't know. This is a strange sentiment. We don't miss the people we don't know. I find it invariably true, however. I've never been to Hawaii. Yet, I am 100% confident that if I travelled to Hawaii, there are people with whom I would become acquanted, then become friends, and maybe become close friends. But I have never been to Hawaii, so I don't miss anyone there.
How could I miss Matt and Tricia? If I never went to Taiwan, I wouldn't miss them. But I did go, and I miss them. How could I miss Ben and Liz? If I never went to La Crosse, I wouldn't. I lived in Burlington, WA, so I miss Tarra. I miss my friend. We would sit up from the beach overlooking the Puget Sound, drinking tea, talking book talk or modern depictions Norse mythology. And then we'd watch as the sun faded and the lights of Vancouver, Canada would spring up like the warm candles in a cabin in the woods. A real cabin in the woods, like the one in Wisconsin, where I came from, which I will always be thankful for.