Living in paradise on the top of a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean — shamelessly allowing some elitism — there is a tendency to gravitate to the fun and recreation around us while losing motivation for the academic rigor available here at Pepperdine.
After being barraged over break by curious folks at home (“how do you manage to study in such a beautiful place?”) I began to realize the validity of the question. How do we manage to focus on Humanities 111 or Public Speaking when the palm trees are swaying in the breeze just outside the window?
There are more than enough quality alternatives to class, including but not limited to: the beach, trips to the city, hiking, surfing, napping, concerts, celebrity searching (you know who you are) and any restaurant or adventure one could want.
Maybe we are already experiencing the late January slump, when most have already abandoned their new resolutions. Or perhaps this is a failure to launch into a focused state on school from the very start.
Either way, a solid New Year’s resolution is in order. No, not another lofty or vague goal about “being nicer to everybody” or losing 20 pounds in the next month. This is the perfect time to stir up some genuine motivation to be superior students with higher intentions. If not now, at the beginning of a new year, then when? After all, it was Martin Luther King Jr. who once pointed out “how soon ‘not now’ becomes ‘never.’”
To follow his advice, and avoid all possible tones of chastisement, I will phrase this next part as the list of reasons that I should have a good attitude going into this new year:
First, I get to live in one of the dreamiest places in the world. Coming from Idaho, a state where making it through the six-month long winter is considered an accomplishment, I get almost misty-eyed every time I drive PCH and return to the manicured lawns and solitude of campus.
It’s very well known that we live on a beautiful campus. Princeton Review has obviously felt inclined to grant other universities the title of No. 1 Beautiful Campus in the past few years just to spread some of the glory around. Even small town Idahoans know Pepperdine for its magnificent location — despite some old timers’ genuine concerns that the entire state of California will soon be falling into the ocean soon due to some nonsense about moral degradation, bankruptcy and a trembling fault line.
Second, in case our drum-circling Occupy counterparts haven’t reminded us, college is expensive. For most of us, our parents are taking the brunt of the tuition costs, or maybe some God-given ability or talent has granted you opportunities to pay for school in another way. Either way, a massive amount of money and energy has been and continues to be poured into each individual student to help foster his or her potential: The same potential that an admissions officer recognized when coming across your application some time ago. With all the money being spent and sacrifices being made, we should be searching for the greatest return on the investment that we can. It’s like proudly donning a brand-new Nixon watch. Or 600 Nixon watches.
Third, if current events can teach us yet another discouraging life lesson about our generation, it’s that we take for granted the amazing security and opportunities given to us automatically as citizens of this country. Instead of walking 10 miles for fresh water this morning, or hoping to dodge terrorist missiles on the way to class, we get to wake up and pursue an education despite our background. Millions around the world yearn for that chance to learn, which should help us remember that education is a distinct privilege in this nation.
Finally, and most importantly, we are all here to seek our passion; The stuff that makes us tick. Whether slaving over organic chemistry in pursuit of medical school, practicing music or studying new languages for hours a day, we have the ultimate freedom to decide our direction and fuel it with as much fiery fervor as we see fit. The process of discovering that direction, though rocky at times, is what gives us identity, purpose and is a blessing that simply cannot be overlooked.
So instead of arbitrarily vowing to count calories or “be nicer” to everyone this year, I suggest that you give yourself the credit you deserve and buck up. Look around, realize that this unbelievably beautiful place is not just a recess from reality, but a chance to find what makes you uniquely you, and get to it.
