Time is Ephemeral

Imagine waking up to one of the many blaring alarms you have set throughout the week. It's a typical Tuesday.

The day begins as hectic as it sounds.

Then, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Time is not as generous as it was at the beginning of the semester. Submit buttons are hit, and deadlines are set. Blocking out time for classes, work, clubs, and mental health downtime has been invaluable and sacred.

Saturday comes around.

Finally, a break.

However, the clock obliges otherwise.

It is currently 3:03 p.m. I have crumpled-up Poland Spring water bottles to the right and left of my laptop. My now dead phone is on top of an award-winning novel that, according to the New York Times, should be a literary requirement for the human species. Coffee in hand, I decided that reading the book's first six chapters suffices—for now.

How did time fly by so fast?

This thought remains on my mind.

In retrospect, high school was no different. If anything, it was one of the busiest periods in my life.

College, though, is a close second.

I view this as a healthy standard.

As a transfer student, having to relive the college application process again was, thankfully, not as bad as most people would think.

It was easier to gain inspiration, to balance academics with work, and to complete college applications. Undoubtedly, this was partly because of experience.

I no longer wait for inspiration to “hit” me. Only two options were viable: now or never. I had exceeded my expectations while at community college. Of course, it’s a different playing field now. There are always going to be challenges. Now, I find it easier to welcome them.

I prefaced this story with one of the busiest, if not the busiest, weeks of the semester: midterm week. Today, life feels especially fleeting.