Nick’s Monologue

I wasn’t really sure how long this was supposed to be, but here it is anyway.

My college experience is nothing like I had imagined it would be growing up as a young lad in the distantlandofWest Islip.  Instead of partying, joining clubs, learning a great deal of vast new knowledge from my professors, and living otherwise carefree, I’m commuting, working, teaching myself the exquisite art of pre-calculus, and learning to live under a great deal of stress.  However, I think I’m benefitting more than anyone who did decide to go away to school.  What do you learn there anyway, besides how to do your laundry?  I feel like my college experience is preparing me for anything the future may hold, and I’m enjoying this maturing process, quite frankly.  I didn’t always feel this confidently about it, though.

Flashback: August 27, 2012.  Day one of college.  As I’m driving to school, the mass oxygen sensor in my car breaks, shutting my car off and leaving me stranded with only minutes to catch the 6:12 train to Penn Station.  After my dad finally picked me up and I caught a later train, I arrived to my first class with no time to spare.  Upon my arrival to English 2800, I found out that 160 pages of reading in The Iliad were due in two days.  My week didn’t get much better after that.  Only after wandering aroundManhattan aimlessly and friendlessly in high heat and humidity during club hours, losing a few textbooks I bought, and getting my wallet stolen by an LIRR employee did things start to get better.

So, one wallet, one $400 oxygen sensor, and a few textbooks later, I began to enjoy my college experience.  Finally, the whole “terror of a new school year” became irrelevant and I broke into a routine.  I even made some new friends.  Maybe college wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Instead of wandering pointlessly around the city, I’m doing things I’ve never done.  Learning to take the subway, going to SoHo for the first time, and eating ethnic foods are just a few of the new things I’ve come to enjoy about my college experience.  Instead of sleeping on the train, I’m getting a head start on my homework.  I’m learning new things about life, and myself through college life.  And I’m doing it all inNew York City.  The city that never sleeps.  The city that all of my laundry-doing, dorming friends post pictures of on Instagram during their occasional visits.  As corny as it sounds, the first, awful week of college has directly made me into a better person.  I’ve learned now more than ever to not let stressful events bog me down.  Not saying that I’d like to look into the eyes of a man that I know probably has my wallet, but humbling events like those that took place during my first adventures to Baruch are the same that will help me grow up.

I picked the rapper Lil B as my picture because he stays positive no matter what, which is what I tried to do when I had a rough week and it paid off.