Making the most of it
For first year students, particularly, finding a place at college has the potential to change one’s outlook on life. Photo Courtesy of Lana McDowell
By Crystal Williamson, Staff Writer
Here at GBC, we have an atmosphere that is unique for reasons far more complex than history, or a picturesque campus or outstanding academics—our community has created the beauty of living here. Our diversity of life experience and interests formulate an environment than cannot be replicated. I fall more in love with the community every day, and I have already met amazing people that I consider to be great friends.
After living in Gettysburg for the past couple of months, I think I have started to change a lot. I have never been away from home so long, and it is an oddity to see how quickly I have adapted. Naturally, I decided to go home for reading days so I could see my family and friends. Now, as I sit in an academic building of a college with my friends from home, I have never felt so out of place. It is funny how once you fit into a community like a puzzle piece, you could start to realize that where you came from might not necessarily be the place for you. It is not like there is anything wrong with where I grew up, but now that I have had a chance to experience something that just fits me so much better, it is strange to slip back into what I have so quickly outgrown.
We all have a story of where we have come from, where we are and where we want to be. Only hard work can bring us from one place to the other, and that great work is embraced in our community. I am keeping an open mind while visiting this community college today, because even though it is different, diversity brings about amazing ideas and experiences. No matter where you are or where you are going, where you are from is a large part of your identity, and without it, you would not be who you are.
Even though I have always pushed myself to work hard and become someone and get someplace, I am not sure if I ever took the time to appreciate what surrounded me. I took advantage of opportunity so quickly that I never took the time to settle in to experience, and this is something I must work on in order to take advantage of the opportunity on my plate. After all, what is the point of taking note of a lesson without living it? Why work hard if you are not enjoying the fruits of your labor?
I want to live every moment of my time at Gettysburg, and not take a single experience for granted. Now that I have worked to get to this experience, I will not simply float along until the next achievement of receiving my diploma. As Henry David Thoreau once stated, “I want to suck the marrow out of life.”
Living each moment is not enough. I feel as if I need to live in each moment and not let a second pass by that I am not fully engaged in all that life has to offer. To let time pass is simply a waste; life has more potential than we could ever know if we keep our doors shut. Opening up to experience is what leads to communities like ours, through the contribution of our varying pathways that we have walked. When opportunity knocks, open the door—but do not leave experience sitting on the couch.
