Random food for thought: “The beauty of humanity is that exuberance lies within our spirit, which is the one thing that can last forever.” — Gianna Callegari, My cherry blossom tree
Anyone notice a pattern in the column titles this semester? I wouldn’t be surprised if you noticed something out of place — or rather, connected. But you know me, I had a little something planned for you all other than a simple column of tips from a college junior.
An introduction to what I thought was the end
So, I asked myself, what will I accomplish?
Set up my own rules and I made the plan
Merge mentalities, build a stronger guard
Stand alone or do I stand with the crowd?
A nice little poem isn’t it?
What about the random thoughts all these weeks?
Sometimes in order to remind ourselves of our roots, we share our experiences.
Small steps towards big goals.
Learn to excel from your mistakes
There’s not much to be afraid of when you’ve already lost everything that matters.
Yeah, there was nothing to dig there. They were what they said they were — random at its finest. But side note, the third random fact was actually from a letter I wrote to my future self from 9th grade. Could say I am still working on that….
I started this column by talking about control, vulnerabilities, and being productive. These were some activities that I found myself to be struggling with for a couple of years. Only recently did I come to terms with the fact that there is much in this world I cannot phantom to be perfect, much in my life that needs to be improved, and many more ways to manage my time and energy well.
I obviously love being a self-publicist to my friends, and I share everything I have written for the column with them. I love hearing their reactions and thoughts about what I wrote.
Like good friends do, they made me rethink what it means to really end certain relationships while choosing to continue others. I found my answer from Episode 7. When we think about the people we associate ourselves with, it also defines the way that we choose to define our purpose in life. Why we do what we do is highly correlated with who we do it for. What you do in life changes; one day you stress over AP Euro DBQs and another day you are practicing how you want to negotiate a partnership with a multi-million dollar company. Who you accomplish milestones for also changes; one day it’s for yourself or the company you work for, the other day it might be for your grandchildren. If the reasons behind our goals can shapeshift, then we must not burden ourselves trying to save relationships meant to end and force closure for ones that will continue.
So this column is titled, “Stand alone or do I stand with the crowd?” For me, the answer has always been to stand alone. The lifestyle I crave won’t come to me by copying what someone else does or following the path someone already tread. In some ways, I craved the adventure and the unknown.
But while you might not need the crowd, the crowd may need you. As my colleague Gianna Callegari mentioned in her Mind of a Freshman column in The Stute last week, and what is my random thought for this week, what is beautiful about humanity is our spirit to thrive. While today, sacrificing a couple hours of sleep for a couple thousands of dollars could help satiate a luxury lifestyle, I have learned over the years that it is not the money that makes me wake up every morning.
It’s the smile I see on my mom’s face when I say good morning. It’s the support that my professors provide for career and academic concerns. It’s the invaluable mentorship that I gain from my colleagues and managers at work. It’s the love and warmth from friends who make me feel like I can move mountains, even if they are hundreds of miles away.
We live in a time where hate seems to triumph over every accomplishment that we have achieved in science, technology, and medicine. Yet, as a society, we are blind to the issues that haunt and shatter innocent dreams. We are blind to the horrors that keep many of our peers fearing for their life, fearing for being the victim of another person’s bad day.
It is futile to bear the burden of these concerns on one’s shoulder for eternity. We must not let ourselves or anyone else stand alone to fight their inner demons and horrors. There is a beauty in life that no Ferrari, no mansion, and no ranking on Bloomberg’s HNWI Index can amount to. Money, power, and fame are all but mere mediums through which we attempt to measure life. Yet, the true measures in life are the days of warm meals, the days of loving smiles from friends and family, the days glass ceilings are shattered, and the days that justice is delivered swiftly.
So while I stand alone, I take the time to stand with the crowd. Take the time to share what you have learned with someone, and see how the light within you can light away another person’s darkness. There is power in individuality and there is power in the collective; use them wisely.
This column may officially be over as Stevens hopes to return to in-person learning for the fall semester onwards. From learning to control what is in your power, productivity, to reevaluating social media accounts, Quarantine Times hopefully was the little light at the end of the tunnel that made you feel whole.
Quarantine Times is an Opinion column written and created by Roshni Revankar ‘22 to discuss tips on dealing with life in quarantine, such as productivity and mental health.
Be First to Comment