The end. Jim Morrison sang about it, Cormac McCarthy wrote about it and most religions address it in scripture.
It’s something that never comes to mind until it’s finally here. Maybe it’s because people are too afraid to address the finality of ending something. Perhaps it’s the uneasiness that comes with having to figure out what happens next. Whatever the cause, humans are naturally reluctant to face the end.
But as I sit at my desk only two weeks away from my impending graduation from this institution of higher learning, I have no choice but to address the closing curtain on my youth.
I know I’m only 23, but it seems like the end of my youth. That and the day when I am purchasing lawn maintenance equipment; that’ll be a depressing day.
So as I look back on my time at Ferris and the events that have transpired in my career, I look back and am glad to say that I have no regrets about how things went.
Believe me, there are things I would change in hindsight. But like the old cliché goes, the college years are some of the best in your life.
Think about it. College is the period of life when you are expected to mess up and figure life out. What else is better than a period of time where you get a free pass for being an idiot and making poor choices?
So as I’ve made some good memories, met some cool and not-so-cool people, and figured out my career path, I’ve taken full advantage of my free pass and can say that I’m comfortable with the idea of finishing school as I have no regrets.
I remember loading up my crappy Oldsmobile in 2007 and heading down to Big Rapids with Led Zeppelin blaring on a warm afternoon in late August to begin my freshman year. I was excited to get out of the sticks and go to wild parties and to be independent for the first time in my life.
While some would say that I likely needed more supervision in my earlier years at Ferris, I made a lot of mistakes but also had a lot of good times in my first year.
As the years have passed and the memories have accumulated, I’ve seen relationships change, my taste in music shift slightly and my priorities shift from party time to professional time.
I came to this school hoping to become the next Hunter S. Thompson, my journalistic hero, and I leave as Greg Buckner, a journalist with my own style.
It was a quote from the good doctor Thompson that I can point to that could sum up my time in college.
“Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously,” said Thompson.
If there’s one thing I leave everyone with as I take my show to the west coast, it’s that you can’t take yourself too seriously during college.
There will be good times and there will be bad times. You’ll grow closer to some people and lose touch with others. But through it all, make sure to make it the best time of your life. and not let the drama and the other nonsense ruin it.
I’ll leave you all with some more words of wisdom from Dr. Thompson and as you read it, I challenge you to answer the question he presents.
“So we shall let the reader answer this question for himself: who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?”