The Victorian Language of Flowers was used for decades to relay feelings that people had a hard time expressing or were too embarrassed to share. Each flower has its own meaning, and each color further explains the emotions they arise. The flower we will be looking at today is the Hollyhock. With tall stalks standing six feet tall, the blooms of the Hollycock are disc-shaped and run from the bottom of the plant to the top. In the Victorian Language of Flowers, the Hollyhock symbolizes ambition, ambition of a scholar, fecundity, fruitfulness, and liberality. To narrow it down, today we will be looking at the ambition of a scholar.
At Stevens, if there is one thing that I have learned, it is that all of the people here tend to be very driven. I recall last semester, as I walked into all of my classes for the very first time, I saw a room already densely populated with students. Having been my first semester, I arrived 20 minutes early for my classes, and to my surprise I wasn’t the only one. Not even 10 minutes before the class started did I see every student in that class.
I knew that college would be different from high school for a host of reasons. One of those reasons is that I would be surrounded by like-minded students. By many people who genuinely cared and are trying their best. Sometimes I think that I get lost in it all. While we most certainly know how to have our fun, I feel that as students, we can become so absorbed in our studies. Another example of this is when you reflect on the amount of credits that is typical for a student here. I remember being confused because I had been told to take 19 credits my first semester by my advisors, while all of my friends at different schools were taking a max of 16.
On a more personal level, I feel that I get so absorbed in all that goes on, and I tend to over-commit myself. For years, everything that I did was concentrated on joining more activities, jobs, and clubs, and such, so I always kept moving. Now, I feel myself still doing the same thing. I have been joining more and more clubs as I find more opportunities for myself to do so while maintaining a high course load. I get reminded often that my busy schedule is a consequence of my own doing, but sometimes it feels as though you don’t have a choice. It is not external pressures from family, friends, or advisors but from my own gut feeling. The feeling that no matter what you do, you always feel like you could be doing more. Working harder, studying more, taking on more positions. This tenacity is what the ambition of a scholar means to me.
It can be hard to remember sometimes that it is our own ambitions that drive us crazy, and it can be even more difficult to make room for ourselves to breathe. At the end of the day, it’s important to leave time for laughter, joy, and rest, regardless of what they may appear to be for you. This to me is what the Hollyhock flower represents. So, in the flurry of a chaotic life, remember to take a break.
