What if there's another little Chris wandering around this campus, or another Courtney, Mickey, Jacob, Kim, Brandon, Julie, etc.?
I mean, of course there will never be another Chris. I believe as much as human kind has in common, each of us are unique in our own way. But what if there's another guy who loves to run, who is mostly introverted yet somehow confident, who is a great student and who is right now questioning everything he ever heard growing up about God and church?
And what if there's a guy who came to this college mostly because of its beauty and grandeur with places to climb and be outside ALOT who is working in the print shop and who meets the love of his life, a little dancer who's funny as hell but is so quiet on the same hand. And this cute go-getter is friends with a photographer with great taste and a guy who could listen to REM all day? And then they all work with and befriend a tall quirky guy who looks a little like John Lennon and says the most bizarre things, and he's dating the only girl in the world who could love that bizarreness that much?
I just wondered if, every couple of years or so, this college campus is graced with the presence of those much like the students who have come before them. I'm sure people choose the same college for different reasons, but is there someone out there, much like you, who is choosing the same place to spend the next four years of their life for the same exact reason?
I would say that many of these people are much different after those four years than they were before leaving mom and dad behind and going into the unknown, and so, do we take that person with us? Are we still that person five, 10 or even 20 years later? Do we continue to change and evolve?
And if we visited our alma maters 20 or 30 years after we left, would we run into our former self in a current student? Are they working on the college newspaper staff? Are they taking trips together and talking about their crazy photographer professor?
And if I visited my alma mater years from now, would I run into a very bold, yet many times insecure girl who has a plan to make an impact on the world with her journalism? Will she refuse to join a sorority and be put in a box because, hell, she can make plenty of friends without some click? Will she work her ass off to make good grades, maintain scholarships and pay for school? Will she write to her grandfather, call her mom once every week and love her roommates like I did? Will she make lifelong friends that move to New York, France and England?
Maybe our own children (if we choose to have any) will fill these shoes a bit, taking a small amount of each of us with them as they start their own life. Although, I'd like the think my child will have his or her own path.
I guess seeing college student roaming around made me wonder all these things. Geez, you think any of them would have such a random thought?
10 comments:
Love this post! What an interesting, albeit random, line of thought.
It would be weird to run into a younger version of me. I would probably find her endlessly annoying.
I adore this post, too. I have always wondered this myself - kind of like parallel versions of our lives played out at different times. Man, it's too late in the week to be thinking this hard! Thank you for the birthday wishes!! xo (How very British!)
Hm. That is an interesting thought. I suspect those college students have a lot of the same thoughts and questions that we did, albeit set to different theme music (which is constantly plugged into their ears through iPods).
I hope there aren't too many introverts. It's a personality type with pretty much no advantages in the modern world. (I say that because I consider myself part-introvert, in case anyone is personally offended.)
I am not so sure. I spent the majority of my day around high school kids and, not to sound conceited, but I don't think they think the same way we do (or did when we were their age).
No, none of those kids were thinking anything remotely similar. You are strange, mentally unstable, and no one gets you.
Actually, I really dug the piece. I've had a recurring fantasy since I was in middle school that this is all a big hoax and the world is really only populated by a million or so models of people. Mainly because I kept getting deja vu when meeting people who I thought I'd met before but there was no way our paths could have crossed int he past. I mean, seriously, if there was a creator god with a huge sense of humor, he really could take a million models, scatter the models all over the world and there'd be no way you could prove that the person you saw wasn't repeated elsewhere on earth. I don't actually believe that, but it's a fun thought exercise.
I liked this post a lot as well. It was sweet and thought provoking at the same time.
And I know I'm funny and a good dancer, but I didn't really think of myself as little. That WAS me, right?
Mickey, you are freaking tiny.
In every way.
What? Inappropriate? He asked.
Mickey is definitely Ryan's opposite in all size-related areas.
And I guess Meaghan missed the fact that I commented on how I often have similar thoughts to this one. Subtle Slam! In your face quietly. First-degree burn!
Will she ever recover? Or will she give in and complete her fated transition to the dork side?
I loved this. Jonathan was reading it and commented how much he has in common with Chris.
We have such good taste. :)
Courtney - If I ran into my younger self, I'd probably tell her to lighten up!
Nicole - Great minds think alike!
Chris - If the world was full of extraverts, it would be really annoying. We need people like you to keep us grounded and to calm us down a bit!
Julie - You're possibly on to something here. Maybe the younger generations are having less thinking all together!
Jacob - I caught your subtle slam, and I match it with this: my post was in the form of many questions, getting the reader to think the same thing. Your posts are just ramblings of your crazy brain! Just kidding! I'm honored to have had a thought similar to yours. I am quite possibly reaching a level of dorkdom I have never seen before.
Mickey - See Chris' answer. Also, does Courtney sing "Hold me closer tiny dancer" over and over to you?
Kari - We DO have great taste!
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