I worked a job over the summer where I didn’t really have that much to do. Then I’d go home, and I wouldn’t really have that much to do. I’d go to sleep and wake up the next day and have the same thing to look forward to. I guess to some that may sound relaxing or peaceful, but it wasn’t. It was me sitting around doing nothing. Maybe I’d read a blog or write for my own, but really, it was just a whole lot of nothing.
Now I’m back at Cornell, and the scene is completely different. My time is in very short supply, and I’m trying to fly through this semester at 1000 miles an hour. I’m going faster than Kenyans drinking Powerthirst. There were like 10 people who got the joke in that last sentence.
Truthfully though, I’m not unhappy with so many demands on my time. Half of the things I’ve made commitments to I legitimately enjoy. It’s like I’ve made this weird transition to a place where I enjoy the things that I do. Unfortunately, many of the things I enjoy are things like blogging for the Daily Sun. This isn’t really going to help me with my engineering degree. I mean, I guess I can put this on my resumé, but besides letting potential employers know that I can speak English, it doesn’t help me.
This is why I’m pretty sure the traditional education system doesn’t work. Sure, I could end up with an engineering job when I graduate, but there’s a good chance that I won’t. Cornell has well prepared me for being an engineer, or so they keep telling me, but really the jobs that I could get sound cool and generally end up being dull. Granted, I don’t have the most experience, so allow me to rescind that statement at a later date if I find it to be false. If I end up outside of engineering, then what was I really doing the last 4 years of my life? I wouldn’t say that they were wasted because there’s so much more to life than school, but I would say I was somewhat misguided by society.
If I could do Cornell again, I’m pretty sure I would major in goofing off and becoming famous. These are things that could legitimately help me in my future. Not to mention that I’m good at them. I suppose the reason I didn’t decide this before my final year of school is that I was far too worried about other people’s ideas of success. Get a decent job in engineering and you’re “successful.” Maybe, in the future, I’ll find out that all those people were right, but in the near future, I’m going to be exploring my own ideas of success. Hopefully, the things I enjoy doing will one day make me successful. If not, I hope people are willing to lend me money. Come on dude, just like $100. I’ll pay you back.