Easter 2013

These past couple of weeks have been ones full of firsts and lasts. I participated in my first 5K (half-marathon, here I come!), helped host a booth at my university’s Culture Fair (participated AND hosted), and performed a dance in front of hundreds of people for the first time for Soul Night (also my first time even going). I also attended my last Associate’s Night at Brown, and just had my last spring recess as an undergrad; I’m also looking forward to my last three weeks in college.

So many firsts, so many lasts (pictures below)! Eeesh.

Almost like how I felt when I neared the end of East of Eden (one of my favorite books, but just imagine your own favorite, extra-long book here), it’s exhilarating to complete one chapter and begin the next, knowing you’re so close to finishing it. For me, the last chapter of my undergrad career is fast approaching, and a new one titled “Gap Year Before Medical School” is coming up, which I’m extremely excited for (I know, I know… no one wants to graduate yet, but bleh I’m ready). It’ll be a short, yet pivotal one that I’m sure to enjoy, whatever it may bring. Besides all that, reflecting on all these firsts and lasts I’ve experienced recently moved my mind to the subject of this week: Easter.

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Eighteen Was Simply a Teaser

I’ve come to understand just how young we are when in college, and how the ranges of maturity definitely vary amongst the people here. When I came to Rice at 16, I don’t think I’d ever heard so many people tout their ages: “Oh yeah, I’m 18, almost 19..”, “I’m finally 20…” The college set (perhaps the later high-school set too) seems to always be the first to talk about their ages, chucking out their late-teens/early-20s age with pride, as often as possible. Continue reading

L’Avenir

L’avenir: it’s one of the French words that means “in the future,” not as in the future tense of a verb, but rather in terms of past, present, and the future. It doesn’t necessarily describe a specific amount of time in the future, or exactly when it will be, but it describes the future in a way that seems far removed from where one resides figuratively at the present moment. L’avenir represents a time in days or years yet to come, when one will be in a certain place, doing a certain thing. “I will be in medical school, à l’avenir. I will hopefully work in international medicine, à l’avenir.” It’s a state of mind, a state of being in your life that so quickly comes and goes, just as easily as the present turns into the past, like a passing breath in cold, winter air. That’s the sort of sense that this word evokes for me, at least whenever I use it. I used it a lot while in Paris, and it means so much now more than ever, as I look forward to future plans and life beyond Rice.  Continue reading