It is currently the middle of yet another humid Sunday afternoon. As I write this, I am sitting in my grandparents’ flat high above the streets of the district of Mong Kok in the city of Hong Kong. Outside, there are people milling about the streets, hustling to their destinations. I can hear taxis, cars, and buses honking and speeding down the street in their hurry to get on with their routines. You can hear the rumble of the semi-trucks and the slam of car doors. There’s the call of market vendors trying to sell their fresh produce and meat, along with store vendors advertising their new products through live demonstrations. There is a constant low buzz blanketing the streets. It is the soundtrack of a big city and it never stops playing. 

Everyone is always in a hurry, whether it is stepping on the gas pedal moments before the traffic light even turns green, or pedestrians crossing the street briskly even when they have a few more seconds (or even minutes) before they are able to legally cross. The people of Hong Kong know their city. They know the exact moment the light will turn green for them to go and they know whether or not they will make it on time to catch their next ride without ever having to look up a timetable. No time is to be wasted when it comes to getting to the next location.      

Having been here in Hong Kong for 28 days now, I have already become accustomed to the routine and lifestyle of a Hong Kong resident. However, while I am not 100% adapted to this unique culture, I have been able to watch life happen in Hong Kong as an outsider. By watching all those around me, I have come to the realization that no matter where we are physically, it seems that people are always in a hurry, both in mind and in state.

Efficiency and convenience are key components of our lives today. We want the fastest Internet connection, shortest route to our destination, time to go faster in order to get to our next task (or in our case, time to go faster so class will be over), gears in our heads to turn faster for thought and motion, and so forth. While we strive to advance quickly into the future, we forget to slow down and enjoy what is right in front of us. Sure, we have our moments when we wish time would slow down so we can savor every second we have, but a majority of the time, we spend our days looking ahead.                  

We look ahead towards our weekend plans, post-undergraduate endeavors, future career goals, and maybe even further into a future of family. Even as children, many of us could not wait to grow up and be treated as adults. Now, here we are. What now? Do we continue to look forward and dream of being 50? And when we get there, will we continue to dream of the future, or will we look into the past and wish we had slowed things down?     

While I am not saying that we should not look towards the future and think of our plans—I am definitely a huge fan of making plans and lists—it certainly is time for us to enjoy what we have now and relish in its glory, no matter how many cliché quotes have been said about enjoying the present. In our minds, we are racing against time and it shows in our actions. Our expressions are solemn, deep in thought. Our legs are taking wide, brisk steps or are rotating quicker to pedal our bicycles faster. We are ferociously scrolling through Facebook, looking for any new updates on our newsfeed, along with winning speed-texting awards in hopes that we will receive a response as soon as possible.      

Davis is not a large, bustling city like Hong Kong, but we are still speeding towards the finish line that we have yet to find. We should slow down, take a deep breath, go for a stroll through the Arboretum, take a nap on the quad, actually read a book, study for our classes in a timely manner, do whatever we please, and just enjoy being a student. Before we know it, we’ll have graduated and may (or may not) be joining the big-city life and rushing about doing who knows what. While we are all still looking ahead with the many goals made in our heads, we should remind ourselves that those goals should not be the only things we see in our future. We should remember to enjoy the journey and have that be a helping hand towards our futures. And if we move too quickly, all we will see is a blur of color until the end of this tunnel we’re traveling through.