Compos Mentis

Summer and School

I have seemed to lose time when at college. While I was a vampire, time simply seemed to expand in order for me to be able to pursue Latin, Japanese, Calculus, and my various writing pursuits along with working out. Coming back, though, I have suddenly remembered how much time being around people takes. Social interaction is a skill that I shall have to relearn. Suddenly I am faced with vocabularies that are above the fifth grade level (though you would be hard-reckoned to find fifth graders who were as vulgar as my fellow proletariat) and with people who actually understand what I say. It is an odd experience. Don't get me wrong, my co-workers were not the most refined or nice people but they were not completely bad. It was a good experience for me- trying out the new sleeping system, hanging around people who were different from me in nearly every respect, and enduring 8 hours of working a night, every night, even when I really, really, didn't want to. On the other hand it was kind of liberating. At college, the main interaction that goes on with my friends is relationships. In such a tight nit group, gossip travels around faster than sound, light, and bad news. For some reason, good or bad, I seem to project a stable influence, so people come to me and tell me their problems. Often, I get both sides, and keeping both could be very stressful. I would worry about both sides and hope against hope that my advice would not be terrible influence. Soon enough, I was caught up in it myself. But after months not thinking about anything that had to do with these interpersonal squabbles, I find that I rather miss being involved. So this year I'm going to make a few changes. I'll give advice, but with the premise that I am not responsible for what happens as a result. Mostly I'm just going to relax, figuring that relationships are pretty much going to be or do what they are going to be or do no matter what I say. And if I ever have the need to fulfill my own romantic desires, then I am definitely going outside the Honors Program. Otherwise, it would just get complicated, and I don't think I can handle it.

posted by Emmett @ 23:21