Hello all! I hope you're grades are doing better than mine T.T Espanol es muy desagredable right now (those are cognates people, not actual words you have to translate). My professor obviously did not like my attempt to use imagery language in spanish. Ah, well, my fault for actually trying to challenge myself instead of sticking to the rote, formulaic writing style we learned in lower level courses. Sigh. Do you every feel like that? You actually put forth a lot of effort to make something good or do something nice for someone and it blows up in your face. BOOM! Soot, ashes, big mushroom clouds and little people screaming "Godzilla, Godzilla!"
Oh, right, sorry, wrong catastrophe.
So yesterday I wrote about choices, and the fact that here I feel like I do have a choice. I was talking with some of my floormates, and they brought up a good point. In some groups, "cliques", if you will, the choice might now feel like such a possibility. I am not really one for being exclusive simply for its own sake, but cliques are a part of life no matter where you go. Here, I feel like there are very few closed groups, but then again I have probably had a decent conversation with only 10% of the WU's population. There probably are groups and people who would judge me for openly deciding not to drink. There probably are people who will talk behind my back and laugh about my decision. So my plan to be different, to be upright, blah blah blah = BOOM! social ostracism and labeled uncool for the rest of eternity...or at least the next four years. Know what that feels like? Yeah, it's not good.
But, hey, this is university. Not an espcially large one, maybe 10,000 people, but big enough that there are OTHER types of people on campus as well. These people could care less what you do, as long as you do not condem their choices; I would hazard to say the majority of people would fit into this category. Here, the majority is so strong that I feel like those who would sneer in a different situation would not want to rock the boat and ignore it. And hey, let's face it, no matter what situation - drinking, not drinking, party, sport, formal, high school dance - at our age, everyone is too concerned with how other people are looking at them to concentrate too much on looking at you. Face it, it's the truth. I do it, and you do it, no matter how much you say "oh no! I'm self confident" and "It doesn't matter to me what other people think of me" blah blah blah.
No. You do care. I care. EVERYONE CARES. It's human nature. It's how we survive. And it should matter. How we are seen will affect what job we get, what grad school we get into, and how we see ourselves. Not to get too philisophical, but, yeah, take it or leave it.
Regardless, though I do care how people view me, I don't let it affect what choices I make (too much). Not drinking does take some courage. It's different from the stereotype and puts you out there to be accepted or rejected. WU makes it easier. Most people here tend to be more academically focused and not as prone to judgements (ok I now everyone makes judgements, you get the point). Alcohol is a prominent part of campus life. You're not getting away from it. But, at the risk of repeating myself, right here, right now, I feel like it is a choice.
Today, no parties, if there is any drinking, it's not very visible or wide-spread, and we all have tests, labs, essay due tomorrow. Work work work for now. Good day and hasta manana a todos.
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