This weekend I had the wonderful privilege of seeing my good friend (and better musician...and better athlete...and better person) Joey Ryan perform on Augustana College’s campus. Joey decided to make a trip back to the great city of Sioux Falls to perform some of his new music, which is definitely worth giving a listen. The venue was basically full of people who came to see Joey and it was cool to see that much support for someone who graduated last year. Of course, 85% of the crowd left after Joey's show, leaving the closing band with about 11 people listening. Too bad, so sad.
While it was great having Mr. Ryan back in town for the weekend, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little depressed after we finished hanging out on Friday night. Even though I’ve had plenty of “Remember when…” conversations in my life as a college student, this Friday was the first time one of those conversations has made me realize how much things will be changing in the near future. College has been really enjoyable, and I finally faced the harsh reality that many of my closest friends and I are nearing the end of our run as students.
While it was great having Mr. Ryan back in town for the weekend, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little depressed after we finished hanging out on Friday night. Even though I’ve had plenty of “Remember when…” conversations in my life as a college student, this Friday was the first time one of those conversations has made me realize how much things will be changing in the near future. College has been really enjoyable, and I finally faced the harsh reality that many of my closest friends and I are nearing the end of our run as students.
(Soon, nights like this will be a thing of the past...tragedy)
Sometimes I get a little nervous because I always hear grizzled old men telling me, “enjoy college while you can…it’s the most fun you’ll ever have.” Then, I usually realize that they’re grizzled old men for a reason and they probably lived to drink and chase unattractive women in college (which is what they still end up doing, just in smokier bars with women who still aren't that attractive). I figure if I am completely unable to have some fun after I graduate, then I’m really not all that exciting a person, and I should be sitting next to Joe Biker at the Thirsty Duck, wasting my life away.
As a result, I’ve taken a personal vow to continue having fun throughout my life, no matter how old I get and no matter where my life might take me. I think my best option would just be making a butt load of money, and then I can pay for all the fun (and my friends).
The good news is that quite a few of my friends will be sticking around in Sioux Falls after college. And while we may not be able to pull off the Thursday night $1.00 drink special at the Sunbird Lounge as often as we could in our college days, I do think we’ll be able sneak one in every once in awhile. As long as we don’t all marry idiots. But that’s another discussion for another day.
Sometimes I get a little nervous because I always hear grizzled old men telling me, “enjoy college while you can…it’s the most fun you’ll ever have.” Then, I usually realize that they’re grizzled old men for a reason and they probably lived to drink and chase unattractive women in college (which is what they still end up doing, just in smokier bars with women who still aren't that attractive). I figure if I am completely unable to have some fun after I graduate, then I’m really not all that exciting a person, and I should be sitting next to Joe Biker at the Thirsty Duck, wasting my life away.
As a result, I’ve taken a personal vow to continue having fun throughout my life, no matter how old I get and no matter where my life might take me. I think my best option would just be making a butt load of money, and then I can pay for all the fun (and my friends).
The good news is that quite a few of my friends will be sticking around in Sioux Falls after college. And while we may not be able to pull off the Thursday night $1.00 drink special at the Sunbird Lounge as often as we could in our college days, I do think we’ll be able sneak one in every once in awhile. As long as we don’t all marry idiots. But that’s another discussion for another day.
The point is, college may be over, but I'm not going to let college be the "most fun I'll ever have." I plan on continuing my reign of supremely enjoyable experiences, and I welcome anyone who wants to partake in said experiences conmigo. We've still got 50 or 60 years to have some fun, so we might as well take advantage of them now.
P.S. - If there are any old people reading this and they have tips on fun stuff to do after reaching the ripe old age of… post-collegeness… please let me know. I’d love to hear what you 30-year and 40-year-olds do with yourselves now besides drink coffee and read.
P.S. - If there are any old people reading this and they have tips on fun stuff to do after reaching the ripe old age of… post-collegeness… please let me know. I’d love to hear what you 30-year and 40-year-olds do with yourselves now besides drink coffee and read.
4 comments:
As someone who is reaching the midway point of their college life, and feeling the pressure to actually start focusing on the academia part of school, it's reassuring to know that others share the concern of a post-graduation life full of reflection of what had been.
Keep twittering...
As someone who graduated less than 4 months ago, you'll have a lot more free time at night. You can use that time to...blog?
For me, prenatal was the best time of my life. No worries, no sunlight. All I had to do was float there.
Then, childbirth and BAM! What's that? What's this? Holy crap, that just blew my mind! I've gotten over most of that, but I'm still finding things that blow my mind.
Besides drinking coffee and reading, there's also drinking tea and reading. I find in my old age that there is a splendid variety of ways of puttering that one can partake in. So there's actually a lot to look forward to.
Nice blog, by the way. And don't worry about falling for the graham cracker - lots of people do. I even saw that on TV once.
Dr. D.O'H!
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