Open your eyes. Sit up. Yawn. Shower, wash up, dress. Check Facebook. Go to class and start your day. Stop at Starbucks and get your caramel macchiato with two shots of espresso to stay awake through your eight-in-the-morning sociology class. Doze off and sleep through the inequalities in gender lecture. Women’s rights? Yeah, right. Your day is off to its usual start.
Pause. The lady who works the late night/early morning shift at the front desk at your dorm greeted you by saying “good morning” as you breezed past her late for your class. You ignored her. You also didn’t notice that as you shuffled down the Pedestrian Mall, the sky above you was splashed with an array of color from the sunrise. Did you realize that, for the first time in weeks, it was 60 degrees at 7:30 a.m.? Wake up.
Play. Shake yourself awake; get to your next class all the way up in Ayres. Jump down the steps and across the streets. Keep an eye out for that UTPD officer with his obnoxious whistle ready because he’ll chew you out for jaywalking. Pace down Volunteer Avenue past the construction; feel the espresso halfway kicking in. Go up the steps of the Hill. Ease into your next class, take your seat, the math professor begins.
Stop. You grazed past the old professor in his seersucker suit and straw that he wears every day, along with his smile. You missed how nicely Glocker is shaping up after months of nothing but a bare foundation. You neglected to notice that you just trekked through that nasty area of construction without scuffing your white and lime green Nike Dunks. Beautiful.
Play. “Y” squared minus one and half “y” is equal to the function of “x” minus three. You don’t really care, but you’ve failed 119 already and can’t fail again. The espresso has already faded, so snap your head up as much as you have to and make desperate attempts to stay awake and coherent. After about an hour of a jumbled mix between daydreams and mathematical jargon, the professor dismisses you. You’re hungry. Shuffle down the steps into the UC for lunch. Wait through one line for your taco salad, wait through another line to check out, wait to find a table, and eat.
Rewind, stop. Look, right there. Notice the girl sitting directly to your right in class. A stunning blend of intellect and beauty, she’s giggling at your sleepiness. On top of that, the professor answered questions on half of tonight’s homework on the board, essentially completing it for you. The lady ringing up your taco salad gave you a smile that could’ve lifted your soul to the heavens, while the chair you sat in to eat was sacrificed to you by a timid girl who noticed your hopeless wandering and moved her studies to the library. You forgot to say “thank you.” You forgot to notice.
As busy college students with a hundred things going on each day in our lives we get so caught up in our compulsively repetitive schedules that we often dismiss our surroundings and overlook the minor details that enhance our everyday experiences as human beings. We live our lives like bullet trains speeding to the end. If we focus so much on the destination and train tracks ahead, we miss the pretty scenery on the side. Breathe fresh air, stop, admire for a second, smile. Acknowledge the natural and man-made elegance that surrounds this campus. Pay close attention to the environment around you. Appreciate. Break the repetition. The little things are bigger than you think.
Play. Get back to your dorm; you’ve got a busy evening ahead of you. Take your 30 minute nap. Wake up. Change clothes, put your tie on, go to work for the fourth day in a row. Listen to the same awful T-Pain song in your car on the way, swerving through traffic like a cyclone. Late again. Get yelled at, clock in, wait tables for six hours, clock out. Get back to campus and spend an hour finding a parking spot. Walk past the same woman working the early morning shift at the desk (it’s that late by now). Go upstairs. Unlock your door, walk in, don’t wake up your roommate. Change clothes, start your two hours of homework, finish. Check Facebook. Undress, wash up. Yawn. Lay down. Sleep. Tomorrow is just another day.
— Oliver Casey is a sophomore in enterprise management. He can be reached at [email protected].
