COLUMN: In no hurry to become older

From Shireen Santosham's, "If I Was Your Woman," Fall '97 From Shireen Santosham's, "If I Was Your Woman," Fall '97The closest I've ever been to heaven was hitting my sheets last Friday night. All I wanted was to curl up under the blankets and have a full eight hours. I think I am getting old. The other day, I found two gray hairs! In a state of panic, I thought "Oh God, I'm an 18-year-old grandmother." Everybody seems to be slowing down. None of us can run as fast or drink as much as we did freshman year. It is a strange feeling to get older. Suddenly, freshmen have become annoying and incredibly dense. One particularly bright member of the Class of 2001 asked me where I was going. I quietly replied, "I'm going to DRL." He, in a drippingly sweet attempt at conversation, said, "Oh cool, I'm going to David Rittenhouse Laboratory, I think its in the same direction." And what's up with the "freshman pack syndrome." I don't recall ever seeing a freshman walking alone around campus. I think they have a "no less than 10 per walk to Wawa" rule. And what about those Quad fraternity party fliers -- remember when we were actually excited to get invited to a frat party? We thought they were so awesome. Upperclassmen boys hitting on "freshman meat", while the freshman boys guzzled beers and danced frantically around the dance floor. Everyone looked absolutely ridiculous. But, that aspect was the best part of all for a freshman. At that time, there was something enjoyable about making a complete fool out of yourself. All right, so its only been four months since I called myself a freshman and in that time, I have gained an infinite amount of wisdom. I realized I actually don't enjoy most frat parties. Moreover, although I had a great time last year, staying out until 4 a.m. the night before my Biology final, is probably not the smartest move in the world. So, in short, although I have gained a few gray hairs and an aching back, the advantage of aging has been to make me a little less stupid. Well, actually, sometimes I wonder if I am any wiser. This time next year, I'll probably be ranting and raving about the stupidity of the sophomore class. Here I am, a decrepit second year student, criticizing the very same things I loved to do just a semester ago. Maybe I'm just fooling myself -- maybe, I'm still just a stupid kid. I still find myself at the random fraternity party every few weeks, still have a little bit of trouble finding my way around Center City and still send my laundry home every few weeks. I try to pretend I am somehow better off than those clueless freshman wandering around campus, schedule in hand, searching for Williams Hall. But the truth is, I still confuse the high rises once in a while. We're always in such a hurry to forget our past mistakes or terribly embarrassing freshman year moments, we forget how much we still don't know. We're kind of like those sixth-grade girls, stealing our mothers' lipstick so we can look like we're in high school. Only now, its a pretentious air of pre-professionalism and self-importance. Maybe its not that bad to be young and stupid. And I have a strange feeling, we still don't have much of a clue. In the words of that master, Kurt Vonnegut: "I will dispense this advise now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine."