There is no time to stop, no time to take a breather and certainly no time to question what it is we want to do for the rest of our lives.
With a struggling economy and stiff competition in the job market, it is crucial for every single one of us mindless robots to bring our "A" game and do what we do best.
For years, our parents, teachers, relatives and coaches begged us not to grow up too fast.
In fact, when I was 12 or 13, I started getting grounded for wearing makeup without permission. And that was just the beginning. There were so many times when I wore clothing that was definitely not age-appropriate or laughed at jokes that I wasn't supposed to understand.
Years later, when I was 15, a neighbor told me that I would miss high school after I left. I laughed at the idea, and still wished those four years away. I got a job as soon as I legally could and started driving soon after.
My parents never understood it. They told me I was growing up too fast and needed to slow down.
Where is that advice now? Well, it wouldn't be relevant anyway. We can't slow down.
There are still as many hours in the day as there were before, right?
That's just it. College is like a clock on Speed. We are making decisions that will affect the rest of our lives. What we do now determines how we will contribute to society from here on out.
Between the ample amount of questionable essays, barely-passed exams, stressful late nights at work and exhausting all-nighters, when are we supposed to ask ourselves if what we're doing is really what we want to do?
Realization of this uncertainty is a long time coming, but we will all think about it eventually.
Are we doing what we actually want to do? Even if we absolutely adore the field we are studying, isn't it healthy to challenge that adoration?
So why aren't we granted the time to question and evaluate these choices thoroughly without penalization?
Sure, colleges — Otterbein included — offer classes that are supposed to allow time for reflection and justification. In theory, these classes seem like a hidden treasure. But in actuality, they are another hindrance.
The classes are just another bump in the road to that tranquility we were acquainted with once upon a time.
Frankly, there is no time to waste, because in our free time, there are multiple assignments we should probably be doing instead of second-guessing our current path.
My question is this: Why did we wait so long to hurry? Now that we are old enough and wise enough to understand our parents' advice, we can't take it.
The world desperately needs our sharp, perfectly-molded minds to fix all of the problems we currently face, and they need them now.
Are you walking? You should probably pick up those running shoes, because according to the myriad of due dates and clock-in times, there isn't time to take it slow.
Write that résumé. Turn in that report. Go to that dreadful interview for that job you really don't even want.
We have to keep up with the pace. We have to keep going, and we have to keep a positive head on top of our burdened shoulders.
We are all running the same race. The end result is the same: to become a college graduate with as little debt as possible. t&c;
