The Time of Your Life

I went to the National Mall today. Bright and early this morning, actually. I saw Michelle Obama give the commencement speech at the George Washington University graduation ceremony. When I graduated, our pompous, retiring university president declared himself to be the commencement speaker. Pissing off an entire class of alums was a brilliant last act. Our consolation prize was that Wolf Blitzer received an honorary degree and also made a speech. I guess that is all $200,000 gets you these days.

Doctor Obama (she received a Doctorate of Public Service) gave an expectantly eloquent and entertaining speech this morning. At least 80% of my reason for standing to applaud was in gratitude for her presence. The other 20% may have been to do with the heat and my desire to catch a cool breeze.

My friend who graduated today began her time at GW three years after I started. I think I had a lot to do with her choosing the school, yet we each had wildly different experiences. I hated my college experience. I hated the type of students (and families) my school attracted. I hated that I felt like a customer of a business rather than a student at an institution of higher education. I spent as much time off campus as possible and after some unsuccessful early efforts, I got involved as little as possible. In contrast, my friend loved her time at this school. She got involved, stayed on campus a year longer than I did, joined a sorority, made lots of friends, studied abroad.

I felt a little sad today.

I didn't go to prom in high school. At the time I was pretty okay with it. Most of the time I am still pretty okay with it. I hate being told that I missed out. That it was some major life event that I failed to experience. It creates a tug on my heart and my memories that I don't naturally have. This is how I felt today. I hate being told that college is supposed to be the best four years of your life. Why does it have to be? That almost seems counter-intuitive that so many seemingly happy people look at their life and consider the peaks to be back at senior prom and the four years they spent in college. I like living my life looking forward. I had a wonderful childhood, and I do have many good memories from my college years, but I still hope that my best years are ahead of me. Otherwise, what is the point?