Ode to Youth
I remember being a student. Although, I think I remember it more fondly now than it actually was then.
Still.
I remember sitting in coffee shops with my nose two inches away from an open library book with my notepad next to me as I furiously took notes. Or, sitting with classmates around a large wooden table with our coffees in front of us as we attempted to study. Usually my classmates were people in which the only thing we had in common was the class we were taking and a need to pass it.
Lately, I see students out and about, all fresh-faced and eager. Preparing for what’s next. Thinking that whatever they are working on is the most singularly important thing in the world. No one has ever read the passage the way they have. No one has ever gained the kind of insight they are gaining. No one can make sense of this particular concept because it’s ridiculous, immature, nonsensical and confusing.
There’s a little piece of me that wishes I was still a student with my books and my classes and the pressure to learn more, study more, write more, read more.
Mostly, I wish I still had that feeling that everything I was doing was awesome, delicious and life-changing.
I look at kids in bars, in coffee shops, around the University District and I love their optimism that they are going to be different than the generation before them, different than their parents. Just different. They will have this amazing job right out of college that will pay them six figures and show that stupid English teacher that no, you really don’t need to know the difference between its and it’s because that’s what an assistant is for. Thank you very much.
The first job hasn’t happened yet. Parents are still footing the bill. No loans have come due yet. Friendships are still forever. The dreams are being formed. The details figured out. The expectations are still high.
I love that cockiness. I love that belief that the world is full of potential and opportunity. And that sincere belief that we are all capable of making the world exactly as we want it to be. What could possibly ever prevent it?
