The first one went well because I prepared for it. The second one went not so well because I read only the first three pages of the required reading. Now, the obvious bit o' advice here is to do your homework and try hard and everything will turn out okay. But that's not the bit o' advice I'm giving.
"WHAT? HOW IS THAT NOT THE BIT 'O ADVICE YOU'RE GIVING?"
Easy: that advice has already been giving. In the first real paragraph of this blog post. Do you really expect me to waste a whole blog post on a bit of obvious and easy to give advice!? Because that's not the sort of person I am. I'm the sort of person who gives actual real advice that's also important.
"How is doing your work not important?"
It's not important because it's what people already know. It's not important because it was the very reason that 90% of the ill-prepared students in my class were fretting in the five minutes before class. It's not important because it's the very reason that I feel comfortable predicting my peers fretted over that damn second reading and damn second quiz at breakfast this morning, before falling asleep last night, and potentially even after our professor commented, "I might even give a quiz over chapter two next class period, too."
Yes. Do your work. You know that. But this is important to: everything is going to be okay.
Look, this piece of advice is true a bulk of the time. Especially if you're as privileged as 98% of my peers at this here suburban, private, Catholic college, in the middle of the United States is.
And that's really who I'm talking to. Not specifically kids at my school necessarily. What I mean is there are some situations I wouldn't patronize with this sort of advice. Not that this advice is patronizing, I definitely don't mean it that way. What I mean is: I've never been a sixteen year old, pregnant, homeless, ethnic minority, with undiagnosed disorders. And since I haven't been in that sort of situation, I wouldn't dare say, "Calm down, it'll be okay," to someone living through it.
But, if you have a home and a bed and a high school diploma and four dollars that you're willing to spend on an overpriced cup of coffee, listen up!
I know that life can be very stressful. I know that sometimes you miss a meeting and sometimes you forget to do an assignment and sometimes you show up to work late. And I know that you have a lot you have to do. I know that you're taking 18 credit hours, or you're on the football team, or you're working two jobs. And I know that that's all really hard because what you'd like to be doing is, like, whatever you'd like to be doing. But what's important to remember (you, person who bought new clothes for the season and regularly pragmatically considers starting an all natural diet) it's going to be okay.
I'm super high strung, don't get me wrong. While I was driving to class, I was working through a lot of this. "OH NO I ONLY READ THREE OF THE PAGES AND THERE WERE EIGHTEEN AND I AM GOING TO FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIL."
This is when I think about Anthony Weiner. You know Anthony Weiner, right? I ask because I assume *everybody* knows about Anthony Weiner and the Anthony Weiner scandal, but the bulk of classmates looked at me like I was straight up crazy when I pointed it out. So, in case you don't know who Anthony Weiner is, he was the NY congressman who accidentally tweeted pictures of his junk, admitted to sexting six women, and resigned from congress. Then, he turned around and ran for mayor of New York.
"Why would you ever think about Anthony Weiner?" you might ask.
That's a good question. For which I have an okay answer.
Sometimes, I forget to do a reading. Or I skip work study. Or don't take a shower. Or I say something stupid. Or I shake while I'm presenting. Or whatever. And when I'm starting to panic about it, I think to myself, "Anthony Weiner tweeted pictures of his junk and was still able to run for mayor of New York." (I should say here that he did not get elected as mayor of New York. Partly because he found himself in the middle of yet another sexting scandal.)
And do you know why the story of Anthony Weiner makes me feel better? Because life goes on. Because people make mistakes and then have the opportunity to change their behavior. Because I have not been part of any sexting scandals to ruin my political career (let alone two, Mr. Weiner). Because even though Anthony Weiner lost the mayoral race, he managed not to lose everything.
Most importantly: life goes on.
And the thing about something small, something like forgetting to do a reading and then bombing a quiz, for example, is that you don't really have that much to repair. Next time, you do the reading and get a better grade. You can't change the past, you can only alter your behavior for the future. But altering behavior and fixing mistakes is advice for another time.
You know that saying, "Sometimes you can't see the forest through the trees"? It's a good saying. See, if you spend your entire time panicking of one tree, you won't realize that there are a whole ton of trees to panic over. No, just kidding, that's not what I'm saying.
What I'm saying is this: this is a moment of time. One quiz, one paper, one test, one class, one shift, one whatever doesn't define you. See, you can fail a quiz without failing the class. You can fail multiple quizzes and still get an "A" in the class. You can be late to a shift without getting fired; you can certainly be late to a shift without getting unemployed for the rest of eternity. You can accidentally hurt your best friend's feelings without losing your best friend forever. You can lie to your mother without getting disowned. I'm not saying that you should do any of these things, and I'm not saying that you shouldn't try to correct your mistakes, I'm just saying, look at the forest from time to time.
You see it all the time where people make mistakes and then life turns out to be fine for them. Anthony Weiner isn't really the best example, I mostly like to think of him so that I can think, "I might not have done my homework, but at least I didn't tweet a picture of my junk." There are other people who make big mistakes and move on from it. Like Robert Downey Jr or Britney Spears or whoever you want to think of.
So, just, remember that it'll be okay. And if, when you're stressing the fuck out, you can't remember that it'll be okay: remember Anthony Weiner. And at least you'll be amused.
But, if you have a home and a bed and a high school diploma and four dollars that you're willing to spend on an overpriced cup of coffee, listen up!
I know that life can be very stressful. I know that sometimes you miss a meeting and sometimes you forget to do an assignment and sometimes you show up to work late. And I know that you have a lot you have to do. I know that you're taking 18 credit hours, or you're on the football team, or you're working two jobs. And I know that that's all really hard because what you'd like to be doing is, like, whatever you'd like to be doing. But what's important to remember (you, person who bought new clothes for the season and regularly pragmatically considers starting an all natural diet) it's going to be okay.
I'm super high strung, don't get me wrong. While I was driving to class, I was working through a lot of this. "OH NO I ONLY READ THREE OF THE PAGES AND THERE WERE EIGHTEEN AND I AM GOING TO FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIL."
This is when I think about Anthony Weiner. You know Anthony Weiner, right? I ask because I assume *everybody* knows about Anthony Weiner and the Anthony Weiner scandal, but the bulk of classmates looked at me like I was straight up crazy when I pointed it out. So, in case you don't know who Anthony Weiner is, he was the NY congressman who accidentally tweeted pictures of his junk, admitted to sexting six women, and resigned from congress. Then, he turned around and ran for mayor of New York.
"Why would you ever think about Anthony Weiner?" you might ask.
That's a good question. For which I have an okay answer.
Sometimes, I forget to do a reading. Or I skip work study. Or don't take a shower. Or I say something stupid. Or I shake while I'm presenting. Or whatever. And when I'm starting to panic about it, I think to myself, "Anthony Weiner tweeted pictures of his junk and was still able to run for mayor of New York." (I should say here that he did not get elected as mayor of New York. Partly because he found himself in the middle of yet another sexting scandal.)
And do you know why the story of Anthony Weiner makes me feel better? Because life goes on. Because people make mistakes and then have the opportunity to change their behavior. Because I have not been part of any sexting scandals to ruin my political career (let alone two, Mr. Weiner). Because even though Anthony Weiner lost the mayoral race, he managed not to lose everything.
Most importantly: life goes on.
And the thing about something small, something like forgetting to do a reading and then bombing a quiz, for example, is that you don't really have that much to repair. Next time, you do the reading and get a better grade. You can't change the past, you can only alter your behavior for the future. But altering behavior and fixing mistakes is advice for another time.
You know that saying, "Sometimes you can't see the forest through the trees"? It's a good saying. See, if you spend your entire time panicking of one tree, you won't realize that there are a whole ton of trees to panic over. No, just kidding, that's not what I'm saying.
What I'm saying is this: this is a moment of time. One quiz, one paper, one test, one class, one shift, one whatever doesn't define you. See, you can fail a quiz without failing the class. You can fail multiple quizzes and still get an "A" in the class. You can be late to a shift without getting fired; you can certainly be late to a shift without getting unemployed for the rest of eternity. You can accidentally hurt your best friend's feelings without losing your best friend forever. You can lie to your mother without getting disowned. I'm not saying that you should do any of these things, and I'm not saying that you shouldn't try to correct your mistakes, I'm just saying, look at the forest from time to time.
You see it all the time where people make mistakes and then life turns out to be fine for them. Anthony Weiner isn't really the best example, I mostly like to think of him so that I can think, "I might not have done my homework, but at least I didn't tweet a picture of my junk." There are other people who make big mistakes and move on from it. Like Robert Downey Jr or Britney Spears or whoever you want to think of.
So, just, remember that it'll be okay. And if, when you're stressing the fuck out, you can't remember that it'll be okay: remember Anthony Weiner. And at least you'll be amused.
Very well said. I agree completely. Thanks, Kat. :)
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