COLUMN: Getting Your Priorities Straight-Live a Little

From Jenifer Wana's "Whatever You Say, Dear," Spring '94 From Jenifer Wana's "Whatever You Say, Dear," Spring '94I remember when I was five years old, attending pre-school at ABC Land in Darien, Illinois. We were learning to count using blocks of wood. A boy asked our teacher, "Why do we have to do this? Can't we play?" So we learned to count. Then in grade school, I was stuck learning reading, writing, and math. Essays about what Christmas meant to me (presents!) or what I like about my little brother (nothing!). And let's not forget reading dear old Freckle Juice. And why did we do all this? To prepare for junior high school! And then in junior high school there's grammar, spelling, pre-algebra, compositions, and dissecting frogs. Why? To get ready for high school, of course! Then the pressure really comes in. Because then you actually start thinking, "Gee, I guess I'm going to college," which leads to "Gee, I guess I have to get into college." So you join the newspaper staff. True, you like to write. But in the back of your mind, you're thinking, "This looks good on my college application." How can you not? Join activities. Get good grades. Study for the SATs. Win awards. But because it's high school, you could do all this and still eat lunch with your friends everyday, hang out after practice, go out with your boyfriend, and go shopping every weekend. But now we're finally here -- college. You would think that after 19 years of doing-this-to-prepare-for-that would be enough. It's time to find yourself, who you are, what you like to do, and what you want to do. But no. Because this is where it all counts. Your college career is what the med schools, the business schools, the recruiters, and everybody sees. For different people, different things are important. For some it's an MCAT score, for others it's work experience. For most of us, the dreaded GPA is all life itself. And it's all to continue preparing us for what's next --work ... marrying rich ... living at home ... having no home ... dropping out of law school and opening up a flower shop ... It seems that college students are so busy just getting ready for what's ahead that the present seems to be forgotten. We no longer have the high school environment, where studying was a cinch, extracurriculars were easy to handle, and all your friends were in the same building you were in all day. Now we've got our filofaxes filled with notes on interview appointments, papers to write, resumes to send, marketing groups, club meetings, professors to suck up to, our work-study schedules, and CPPS workshops to attend. And maybe, just maybe, if we happen to see someone on Locust Walk, we can pencil them in for lunch next Thursday at 12:30 in 1920 Commons although it's possible that we may have a TA at that time so we'll call and confirm the night before but we'll probably be there and (oh my Buddha!) I have a paper due tomorrow that I haven't started yet?! Our whole life is just about getting ahead and moving on. What we do now is only in preparation for what we want to do in the future. And that future usually has to do with making money, which makes sense considering money buys food, shelter, and Mazda Miyatas. And once I (hopefully) find a job in some Madison Avenue ad agency, I know I'll be working my butt off to become a senior account executive. Then a vice president. Then CEO. Then president of the United States (yeah, like monkeys fly outta my butt). But when I look back at college, I want to be able to remember more than just leading board meetings, applying for internships, and staying up till 2:00 a.m. working on an advertising proposal for class. What means more to me are late night meaning-of-life talks, relationship, getting drunk at Marakkesh, watching Free To Be You and Me and cheezy frat parties that you can laugh about later. That's where real learning comes from -- learning about yourself , others and human nature. The only problem is, there isn't enough time in the day for these things when we're constantly worried about what to put on our resume, how our resume is formatted, where to send our resume, and what color our resume paper should be. So before it's too late, just relax for a minute. Decide what's important in life. It's easy to say to yourself, "I will get into Harvard Med, therefore I will study till dawn everyday, skip spring break to study for the MCATs, and take only pre-med courses." Because even though it's hard to accomplish these goals, they're simple goals. Maybe it's time to challenge ourselves beyond academia. In addition to worrying about how our Economics grade is going to ruin our GPA, let's take a few minutes to worry about a friend who's been a little down lately. Instead of revamping our resume for the 294th time, why not write a letter to a friend from home. Instead of penciling in a lunch with an acquaintance a month from now, why not drop by their place and see how they're doing. And instead of calling a fellow board member strictly about club business, why not call them for no reason except to just talk? These suggestions probably don't sound too hard because they're not. They're just not as easy as they were in high school. The older we get, the more time and energy we put into preparing for what's next, which means less and less time for people. So take a break from the race. It'll be there when you get back, believe me. Besides, we're all going to die someday anyway. Jenifer Wana is a junior Communications major from Willowbrook, Illinois. Whatever You Say, Dear appear alternate Fridays.