monologue

Clifford: It’s strange how the simplest of questions can be the most difficult to answer. Those small meaningless questions that we never quite focus on or ask ourselves in life since it will never appear on a test, unless you are studying philosophy, or because they seem so easy that a caveman could do them. And more often than not it’s those seemingly easy questions that reveal the most about us and can help us build connections with other people. Small questions like, what are you most afraid of? Suddenly you remember those times when you were young and afraid to go into the dark hallway to get to the bathroom, those nightmares you had after playing resident evil 3 nemesis for the first time and that still scare you now, or that time you almost drowned as a kid from wandering into the deep end of the pool, and suddenly, after sharing your fears and hearing everyone else’s, you realize that you guys have a lot of the same fears. Other questions like, what’s important to you? Make you realize that you all value the same everyday things like boyfriend/girlfriends, friends, family, video games and even strange things like a collection of unicorn paraphernalia. Then you start asking yourself about everything else you might have in common with the ‘strangers” around you. Did they also have a problem staying awake and focused in McCaffrey’s class instead of staring at his sweat stains while he kept forgetting what he was doing? Did they also find these college books really expensive and boring? Did they also believe that high school did not prepare us for college like our old teacher promised us and were now asking for those four years back? Did they also like law class because of those funny examples that the professor gave us? And did they also like those two hour breaks that gave us plenty of time to enjoy things especially girls that college had to offer? Finally you start thinking about all the other little details and embarrassing moments and if they also went through them, like middle school bullying and teasing or the occasional awkward discussion about whose you know what was bigger. So slowly but surely you start realizing that all these people around you are in the same situation as you with the same fears, values and worries about college and that you could really enjoy these next few months of college with them and hopefully the next four years.