As students, we have a lot to complain about. We have to wake up in the morning, sometimes as early as 8 a.m., walk up to 15 minutes to class, and then sit there and think. Not only that, but from November to March, we have to make that walk in cold weather. Then we leave class, go back to our tiny rooms, and are forced to do more work or suffer the consequences of subpar grades. Then, when we get a break on the weekends, we are forced to watch a football team that can't even win us a national championship. What's worse, du Lac won't allow us to forget about that sorrow without the fear of being brought in front of the disciplinary committee.
Graduation doesn't make it any better. We actually have to spend our senior year doing work in order to graduate. We're forced to listen to the president of the United States speak at our commencement. Then finally, once we escape this place, we can't even find a job, because the economy is so bad.
Now wait a minute. Let's take a step back. Because maybe, just maybe, life isn't as bad as it seems.
We wake up in the morning, more than likely sometime after 9 a.m., and for some, after noon. We roll out of bed and walk to a dining hall which prepares all of our meals for us. We go to class and all we have to do is think (and not even that sometimes), without any physical strain. We come back to our rooms and can do nearly anything that we want with our time. We can sleep for another three hours, we can watch hours upon hours of SportsCenter or simply stare at our computers without anyone telling us not to. And we can stay up all night for no good reason if we feel like it.
True, life could be better. But life could be a whole lot worse too. I'm not saying that we should all abandon the life that we have and give ourselves to a life much harder than the one that we have, at least for now. And I'm not saying that we're spoiled and that we shouldn't have the things that we do. We all deserve to be here. But sometimes, we need to just take a step back and get a different view of things. We have it very good here, despite some things that aren't entirely ideal. I understand the stress that everyone feels. And I understand the frustration that we all feel when work, or rules, or losses get in the way of our enjoyment or happiness. But life is very good, so we should enjoy it all — the work along with the convenience and fun.
It really is all a matter of perspective.
