Break is over. Students and teachers alike are now faced with the same fears and aspirations with which they left 2016. Not much has changed during the holiday season sprint. Maybe you have a newfound appreciation of 8-hour sleeps, or additional goals for the New Year, but everything is just as you left it—messy and hopeful and unsure. The escape from reality is never as whole as it could be.
Once everyone is finished buzzing about their latest winter destinations, family visits and travel adventures, the frenzy settles in. Allison’s taking 6 (challenging) courses, starring in Hamilton (because the commute from Orlando to New York’s not too bad), interning at the Florida Department of State (to make a difference in this crazy political climate), and working part-time to pay for all those plane tickets and UNICEF donations. All at the ripe age of 20. What are you doing?
Before break, Kevin was heartbroken over his latest breakup with his girlfriend of a year. Woe is him. He tells me he’ll be single forever. You know the feeling, but you wouldn’t understand his pain because you’ve never been in a relationship lasting longer than 5th grade recess. First day back, Kevin’s madly in love with his childhood best friend and old neighbor. They reconnected over the holidays, and he doesn’t know how they didn’t see it before. Sparks flew. They had been denying their love for years. The beginning of a beautiful friendship grows into the beginning of a beautiful love affair. Still single?
Maria’s professors have recognized her eternal greatness and natural talents during the first week of class. Her writing is a revelation to the literary world, and Professor Dumbledore (who rose from the dead just to guide Maria, the new Chosen One) has connected her with his own literary agent because he’s never seen anything like it. Her first novel is set to be published in May. How does she find the time between going to the gym five times a week, nurturing a loving five-year relationship, and feeding the hungry children of the world? It’s her passion. She can’t take a break, not even the first week back, knowing there is so much she can do to help. You lost 2/5 syllabi and your apartment key by Wednesday.
Everyone is doing something. Everyone is changing the world. Everyone is the next Lin-Manuel Miranda. So where does that leave you? The world is still racing on, even as you are standing still, and every second spent worrying or reflecting or relaxing is a second a legend is being born and a legacy is being written. But you are doing things, too. You may not be the next Lin-Manuel Miranda, but maybe you’re the one after the next one. Don’t get caught up in everyone else’s lives because they’re all successful, and it will just make you excruciatingly aware of your own failures and shortcomings. Focus on doing extraordinary things, at your own pace, and for the sake of your own happiness.
