By: Jared Frankel
“The human body essentially recreates itself every six months. Nearly every cell of hair and skin and bone dies and another is directed to its former place. You are not who you were last September” (well, by the time this is posted, probably last October).
When we were kids, we spent our lives scribbling outside the lines, let our imaginations take us on the wildest of adventures, and done whatever we wanted to just because. Having the possibility to completely recreate one’s self is programmed in our brains from birth. Our cells are begging us to be explorers of the unknown. We were forced to try new things and not get bogged down by the mundane. In order to be ourselves, we can’t let our pasts and fears about our futures define who we are.
After an uber-stressful week, finding this quote finally gave me some peace of my mind. Bogged down with studying for an impossible organic chemistry exam, writing a lab about some chemical I can’t even pronounce, two other exams, a project and two papers, you’ve got to wonder if professors have conference call to collaborate on which weeks would be best to give incredible amounts of work. But sometimes, I wonder why I even bother. Wouldn’t life just be easier if we dropped everything and took a step back? Aren’t these supposed to be the best days of our lives? So why not let loose and live a little! …but maybe after I learn a few more reaction mechanisms so I don’t completely fail my orgo exam. (Update: the average was a 47, in case you were wondering).
Even though I’m still trucking through all the mountains of work I have, discovering a new viewpoint has really helped me put my life in perspective. Because the world around us always changes, and because we ourselves are always changing, we don’t have time to waste worrying and wondering about things we can’t control. We should live every day as if it was our last.
This past weekend, I was invited to perform at a benefit for an inspirational woman from my hometown who past away after a long battle with a rare form of cancer a few weeks ago. Instead of mourning her death, her final request was for her friends and family to celebrate how she lived her life. In her message, I think we can learn just how valuable a positive perspective can be. So live a little! And most importantly, listen to the words of wisdom from a wonderful soul:
“Live life, love, laugh, regret, forget, and dance like no one is watching”.
The Sophomore Year Experience at TCNJ 
Leave a comment