Some thoughts for you

by Allez33

Posted to Utterances on 2003-06-05 05:26:00

Parent message is 462128
I can remember when I felt similar frustrations about being in school while really wanting to be ‘on the road’ and exploring the world, myself, art, literature, everything. It’s a tough situation to be in. For what it’s worth, though, I offer these thoughts.

College is often percieved as being somehow ‘not real life’, something to get through in order to start living. To some extent that’s true. However, what is often overlooked is how incredibly great & valuable it is to be in school, to have the opportunity to study many, many different things, to be able to use all your time to LEARN (rather than spending all your time trying to scrounge up money to pay the rent, the bills, etc).

If you really want to be a writer, then I suggest that you WILL be a writer, but not necessarily because you majored in creative writing or went to some workshops. Study what interests you, use the opportunity of college to learn everything you can about whatever moves you. Fill yourself with knowledge and avail yourself of all the incredible tools that college has to offer: libraries, professors, interested fellow students, cultural events, speakers, clubs, etc.

A college career is short and after it’s done there is all that “real life” to attend to for the rest of your life. Trust me, you spend a lot more time doing crap you have no interest in doing in order to sustain a modicum of comfort, keep food on the table, keep the car running, etc. You may never have 4 years of pure learning for learning’s sake again, so seize the time now.

The pain, the ecstacy, the wildness, the angst, the disappointment, the struggle, the sorrow, the triumphs of the rest of your life are right around the corner but don’t squander the opportunity to explore the block you’re on by rushing forward too quickly.

As for writing – just keep writing, whether you major in it or not. If you have something to say, if writing is your art, then you will write, and whether you ever become a Writer (capital “w”, as in profession) or not, it won’t matter if you are true to yourself and put the words down as faithfully and tirelessly as you can.