No rush for the future; it'll always be there

  My time is done.  After two semesters as editor in chief of the Current, I'm moving on to bigger and better things.  It's been fun…yada, yada, yada.

Being nearly twice the age as most of the friends I've made over the past three semesters has allowed me ample opportunity to observe youth in action and the trials and tribulations which people experience as they maneuver through early adulthood.

I've been down many roads and if there's one piece of advice I'd offer these post-pubescent know-it-alls it's…never change.

John Lennon said, "They hate you if you're clever and they despise the fool."  Boy, he sure had that right.

Back in the day, when I was 20-something and listening to Lennon's "Working Class Hero" on vinyl, its words hit me hard—"There's room at the top they are telling you still, but first you must learn how to smile as you kill"/"When they've tortured and scared you for 20 odd years, then they expect you to pick a career."

I was a young college student and had watched my parents live the American dream—married, kids, house, career, divorce, remarry, layoffs/buyouts—and I wanted nothing to do with it.

Even though I wanted nothing to do with it, I did dabble in a bit of "conforming."  It didn't feel very good, so I stopped.

Everyday, I hear a student say, "My parents want me to do this" or "My parents are going to be mad at me unless I finish this semester."

I've never understood the rush to finish college.  The process makes little sense.

Graduate high school, pick a major, go to college for four years, and pick a career.

How in the world are you supposed to know what you want to do—you haven't experienced anything yet.  If you sort of like dogs, parents tell you to be a veterinarian.

At 20, I really liked marijuana and beer—based on "parent" logic, I should have been a bud tender.

I look around every day and get excited by the zest and zeal I see so many college students exhibit.  We live in trying times—the planet is falling apart, politicians are out of control, and society is dysfunctional because of our love of celebrity and money.  I believe it's going to take a generation of forward-thinking, peace-loving, karmic-minded individuals to pull this country out of the mess it's in.  

Complacency is the enemy of youth.  As we age, many people choose to get comfortable and not rock the boat.  We're taught and conditioned to be just average.  We're taught and conditioned to sit in the middle.  We're taught and conditioned to work eight hours a day at jobs we don't like, get married, have kids, buy houses and things, extend credit limits—all things that can distract you from learning who you truly are and what you truly enjoy doing.

So ask yourself the question,  "what do I really enjoy doing?"—and do it.  If you do anything else, you're probably settling for comfort or ease—and that's a best-case scenario.  Worst-case scenario would be that you're learning how to smile as you kill.