“At the end of the day, the winner of a rat race is still a rat.”

Let me apologize ahead of time for if it would seem that I’m not making very much sense. I’ve been up all night studying for a test, after which I will proceed to write a story due for work tonight and somewhere in the middle fit the plethora of meetings that comes with Hump Day.

While I do have a variety of relevant topics to discuss, I thought today I would focus on a mini-lecture given in my COMM 308 class yesterday morning with Prof. Stephenson. If you have had him for anything, you know Mr. Mike to be a man of great humor and wit, able to turn what could be an entirely dull subject (research methods of communication) and make it into an early-morning event I actually attempt to attend; and a man of great personal strength, having recently beat cancer (whoop!) after knocking on Heaven”s front door.

Upon the commencement of class, he instructed us to put away our notes and instead of launching into what would have undoubtedly been a delightful presentation on content analysis…he started talking about something else. Asking us how he could teach us not just to retain the information presented in this course, but REALLY teach us something.

His message was clear: having cancer ordered him to really stop and think. Prioritize. Live. Realize all the wonderful, fantastic things about life and revel in them, day-to-day. As  he said, “listen with his eyes.” Our generation is so caught up in being competitive, coming out ahead, being involved in everything and still making the grade, etc…we’re so eternally “tuned in” that we forget to stop sometimes and just smell the roses. Listen to the wind blowing through the trees. Appreciate the blue of the sky, the smell of the grass, the feel of the very earth beneath our feet. How often do we actually do this? Are we so caught up the long list of tasks and accomplishments we need to get out of each day that we’ve forgotten how?

As a college student taking 12 hours, working what has become a full-time job, looking for career opportunities for once I graduate and maintaining a minimum 3.5 GPA so I can keep my scholarships, I’ll admit that I fall victim to this rat race more often than not. I almost feel like sometimes, I’m just living day to day, waiting with bated breath for my body to catch up and quit on me for lugging it around with little to no sleep and fuel with little to no nutritional value.

Dr. Stephenson’s impromptu lecture on life really touched me. It was almost as if he had reached out and personally caught me by the arm. Forcing me to slow down–not just slow down, but halt completely…has really altered my mindset. It’s a very liberating feeling, realizing that at the end of the day, the world is still going to turn if I don’t make that A; if I miss deadline every once in a while; if I don’t go to class. I want to encourage everyone who reads this post to do the same.

And Dr. Stephenson: if you’re reading this–mission accomplished.

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