I’m thinking about making it a habit to write a letter to my previous self periodically. I thought of this in a conversation with Jonathan when he lamented a few of the negative aspects of his choice for a degree. He chose to study English literature. I chose Accounting.
So you’re finally getting out of here! You’ve been listening to Sofie B. Hawkins California Here I Come nonstop and you think that once you’re out of here, you’ll never look back. Hold your horses and stop living in the future. Look around you. Take a walk down the street. Remember the smell. You’ll think of the moment you did and be glad for the rest of your life.
You want to study accounting because you think it will make you independent and valuable. You think everyone needs an accountant and so that’s what you’ll be. Forget it: it’s nonsense! To spend four years of your life in it is to throw away what should be an education. Study philosophy, literature, history, mathematics, and science. You will remember reading Kant, Victorian Lit, and historical revolutions, but you’ll forget (as soon as possible) rules for depreciating property and tax law. Everyone will scoff and ask you to do something practical but at the end of it, you’ll scrounge your way into a job whether you study business or not. Study what you love.
You have a tenuous relationship with authority but forget all the stupid gestures of rebellion. Make friends with your professors. Hang out with them during their office hours. Ask them about their lives. They face stupid, jaded, reluctant people for most of their teaching hours, and even if they are at first suspicious of your enthusiasm, press on; they will be delighted you take an interesting in something they love.
Spend as much time as you can in the library. Explore its every corner. Find the dusty first editions and rare books that lurk there in obscurity. Read the off-beat journals you can find in the periodicals section. If you can’t figure something out, where else would you find a professor in the field who could help you? Learn its rhythms, its people; incidentally, you’ll find yourself gazing at the vacuous girls who follow basketball players, whereas you’ll find that a girl in the basement of a library is much more interesting than a sports groupie.
Run the track at night. Not only will you add minutes to your life, this will be the easiest time in your life to develop it as a habit. I wish I could send you a picture of yourself in 2004 for motivation. Go easy on the cafeteria food – “freshman 15” is not an expression from nowhere.
Never work during vacation. Instead, do as many road trips as you can. Muster up the courage to do some short term missions trips. You'll change your mind about religion and gain some depth in the process. Speaking of which, go to chapel.
Attend University events. Go to music department recitals. At no other time in your life will they be as accessible. Scan the schedule for visiting lectures. Sneak into a class you aren’t enrolled in…
Well, you’ll probably throw this in the trash. But don’t say I didn’t tell you so. Have fun with your next four years.
David, 2004
