Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Sustained Relief
Today is the day when most of America is starting, or has started, the new school year. It's been five years since I graduated from college. Two since I completed an additional major.
But the day still arrives when everyone else starts -- and I remain the same -- and I still remark how great it is. I think this is partly because so much of school is useless bullshit. There's really no solution. I'm not an answer-man in this respect. All I know is the busywork is rampant and numbing. There are other factors, of course: the parking, tuition, boredom, late nights, and worry.
I only miss two things: the learning and cross country. Throughout the bullshit, real learning did eventually trickle in. Not in every class, of course. It's funny that I'm in business now, yet all the business courses I took were the most useless, wasteful hours of my life.
And September just doesn't seem right anymore without cross country. It would be no different if I coached. Once you're not running on a team of friends, something is forever lost. It's a source of palpable embarrassment to me, the kind of shape I'm in right now. But the bottom line is I could train my ass off; I still couldn't reach the shape that I could with a team around me. Ideally, I'm sure it's possible. But it's one of the few things I can guarantee: my fastest days were nine years ago.
So good luck, kiddos. Don't believe your parents: it's really as bad as you think it is. I am sorry for that.
But the day still arrives when everyone else starts -- and I remain the same -- and I still remark how great it is. I think this is partly because so much of school is useless bullshit. There's really no solution. I'm not an answer-man in this respect. All I know is the busywork is rampant and numbing. There are other factors, of course: the parking, tuition, boredom, late nights, and worry.
I only miss two things: the learning and cross country. Throughout the bullshit, real learning did eventually trickle in. Not in every class, of course. It's funny that I'm in business now, yet all the business courses I took were the most useless, wasteful hours of my life.
And September just doesn't seem right anymore without cross country. It would be no different if I coached. Once you're not running on a team of friends, something is forever lost. It's a source of palpable embarrassment to me, the kind of shape I'm in right now. But the bottom line is I could train my ass off; I still couldn't reach the shape that I could with a team around me. Ideally, I'm sure it's possible. But it's one of the few things I can guarantee: my fastest days were nine years ago.
So good luck, kiddos. Don't believe your parents: it's really as bad as you think it is. I am sorry for that.
