34th Street Magazine's "Toast" is a semi-weekly newsletter with the latest on Penn's campus culture and arts scene. Delivered Monday-Wednesday-Friday.
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Replaying the images from the last four years in my mind, there are many moments at Penn I don’t think I’ll ever forget (and many that are already forgotten). And for the most part, these moments aren’t the planned ones.
I can’t live my life thinking that I’ll soon die. At a certain point I’m willing to suspend disbelief: to let myself think I have the capacity to live a healthy and ordinary — maybe, even, an extraordinary — life.
The DP taught me how deeply fulfilling it can be to devote yourself to something important, even without the dangling carrot of external validation from grades and other “objective” measures of success we obsess over on this campus.
Now though, for what feels like the first time, I’m not dragging my feet. I’m ready, heck, I’m excited to move on because I feel like I took a mighty swing at this college thing.
As much as The Daily Pennsylvanian Editorial Board believes our Quaker peers are the brightest in the Ivy League, we don’t think we’re that much smarter, and we’d appreciate some more time off.
The process of reflecting was valuable in that it was a cognizant deliberation and analysis of my mentality and actions. It helped me break out of habit and identity my faults, my ways of responding to situations, and the methods I can take to improve my lifestyle. It also helped raise self-acceptance as I pinpointed victories that I’ve achieved through hard work and compassion.
I will always have to choose between pursuing my passions in the United States of America and being with my family. If I choose one, I can’t have the other.
The truth of the matter, and what some are so quick to overlook, as they are blindsided by their activist ambitions, is that having the ability to volunteer or take on an unpaid internship exudes extreme privilege.
And, although their nagging can sometimes be annoying, it’s good to be reminded from time to time that it’s important to get enough sleep, eat well, and go to Van Pelt every once in a while.
I realized that spending a lot of time alone, coupled with the stress of academics, can foster loneliness even in those who like alone time. This means you might not feel as happy as you might have in high school or on vacation.