Time to Get Together
I spent a lot of time by myself this previous weekend. I skipped out on a long weekend tour of northeastern Bohemia for the nerdiest of reasons: I wanted to finish a paper. This past weekend, of course, was Easter and Passover. Sunday night, while I was slaving away on my cultural history of the city paper, I heard fireworks. And I didn’t realize that the city’s fireworks show would be visible from the other side of the building until it was truly too late and all I saw was a few minutes.
The new pope celebrated his first Easter as the pontiff. My extended family were gathered in Memphis dying eggs and having dim sum. And my dearest of friends were having a jolly time in New York in my absence.
I sat in front of my laptop type, typing away 12 pages about a neighborhood in Dublin. I probably would have enjoyed myself if I had attended the northeastern Bohemia tour, (I lost out on a $20 deposit by deciding to bow out) but I am proud to say that I am done. I turned in all 12 pages before anyone else had written even one page. And I don’t do this to be a super-nerd. Because, well, hey: I have 30 more pages to go in the form of 3 final essays for 3 other classes and then a presentation that I worked on until 5 am last night. Time is a wasting.
I don’t have much to complain about life. I know who my friends are and I think about them and I have good reason to believe that they think about me. I attend a good school and for all its flaws I do love it. I have parents who have tried their best for my advancement and I tend to give them grief for not having done better but I’m working on that. I have an extended family that love and support me. I am in the Czech Republic and I am grateful to have lived in a different country. But I love being an American more than anything else. And my hard work and struggle, for the most part, get their due. I have a scholarship. I have a PFAW fellowship. I have a summer internship and money to go to New Orleans. I got a New York State and federal tax return – though Michigan took out $89. (Oh, Michigan. If you must take out the money, make sure it goes toward funding a stronger International Academy.) And I just received news that I have passed the first step in a long process that may end up in another NYU scholarship. And will be in the Front Lines Leadership program.
I cannot claim to be the cheeriest man on the face of this good earth. And I am certain that I don’t have the best life situation. But I am trying my hardest to make a better future and I hope my struggles amount to something. It’s not the most glamorous way of life but I believe in it. Though, there’s more than a good chance that I read the New York Times and listen to NPR more than I actually open up my course readers. On balance my life is good – not in your eyes and not by someone else’s standards – but by the values that I have come to recognize.
The new pope celebrated his first Easter as the pontiff. My extended family were gathered in Memphis dying eggs and having dim sum. And my dearest of friends were having a jolly time in New York in my absence.
I sat in front of my laptop type, typing away 12 pages about a neighborhood in Dublin. I probably would have enjoyed myself if I had attended the northeastern Bohemia tour, (I lost out on a $20 deposit by deciding to bow out) but I am proud to say that I am done. I turned in all 12 pages before anyone else had written even one page. And I don’t do this to be a super-nerd. Because, well, hey: I have 30 more pages to go in the form of 3 final essays for 3 other classes and then a presentation that I worked on until 5 am last night. Time is a wasting.
I don’t have much to complain about life. I know who my friends are and I think about them and I have good reason to believe that they think about me. I attend a good school and for all its flaws I do love it. I have parents who have tried their best for my advancement and I tend to give them grief for not having done better but I’m working on that. I have an extended family that love and support me. I am in the Czech Republic and I am grateful to have lived in a different country. But I love being an American more than anything else. And my hard work and struggle, for the most part, get their due. I have a scholarship. I have a PFAW fellowship. I have a summer internship and money to go to New Orleans. I got a New York State and federal tax return – though Michigan took out $89. (Oh, Michigan. If you must take out the money, make sure it goes toward funding a stronger International Academy.) And I just received news that I have passed the first step in a long process that may end up in another NYU scholarship. And will be in the Front Lines Leadership program.
I cannot claim to be the cheeriest man on the face of this good earth. And I am certain that I don’t have the best life situation. But I am trying my hardest to make a better future and I hope my struggles amount to something. It’s not the most glamorous way of life but I believe in it. Though, there’s more than a good chance that I read the New York Times and listen to NPR more than I actually open up my course readers. On balance my life is good – not in your eyes and not by someone else’s standards – but by the values that I have come to recognize.
posted by Fred at 4:25 AM
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