You can see it everywhere.
Sales on pencils, notebooks, glue, Crayola crayons, and bright, hideous yellow posterboard everywhere you turn.
Yes. The "back-to-school" season has begun. There are already Halloween decorations out in the stores, and I daresay that soon enough we'll be seeing the Thanksgiving and Christmas stock out early.
Now, if you're like me, you always hate this time of year and you sit around with an inner dialogue that goes something like this:
It's sad to admit, but I have never been the kind of person who "looks forward" to starting a new school year. Yeah, there is the nice smell of getting new books, the excitement of starting a year afresh, but it really does seem like a downer. This particular beginning of the semester has been a bit of a tricky time for me. You see, I had allllll my classes for this fall 2018 (which is September through December) semester lined up, I was signed up for everything and had my schedule finagled so that I only had to drive down to school twice a week, and then I got this email. This terrible email. Evidently, there were not enough people signed up for my particular section of a class, so it was necessary for me to move that class to another time--a time during which another of my classes was scheduled. And then it turned out that another of my classes had to be changed. So, to sum things up, I was not happy. It was a huge mess. It was only last week, I think, that everything was finally figured out.
And you know what? It's actually better this way. Looking back, I realized "oh, I still only have to drive down twice a week, and instead of having 8 a.m. mornings, I have 10 a.m. mornings." Traffic will be better. I won't have to get up as early. For all my griping and complaining, it worked out for the best.
This brings me to my point (She has a point?) Yes, I have a point. You see, the education that I complain about, that I whine and moan and fuss about? That education is a privilege that many people would sacrifice a great deal for. There are people in less privileged societies who would give just about anything they could give for a chance to get a good education, for the chance to learn and broaden the horizons of their future. And here I am, going to college "because I can," and I take it for granted. I complain about it. I whine about it, I get inexcusably downtrodden by it.
Sure, school can be hard and frustrating--VERY hard and VERY frustrating at times, and it has the capability to anger me, to drive me to tears quicker and easier than anything else on this earth--but at the same time, I should not lose sight of the fact that I have been given far more than I ever needed or deserved. I am comfortable, without many inconveniences, living at home, with my parents, and I am surrounded by wonderful people who love and care about me, people I love and care about. I'm going to a good, nationally-recognized university with very little cost to myself, just because I CAN, not because I have great dreams of being a doctor or a researcher, just because I can. It is a great privilege. And I should act like it is, not whine incessantly about every little inconvenience that I face.
Now, I know that this is way easier said than done, and probably during my first week into classes I will find something to complain about. But are the things that I spend my time moping about really worth the emotional energy? Are they really? At the time, it always feels like they are. But when I look back and remember how much I have been given, that I have all that I need and far, far more, when I remember that the GOD of the UNIVERSE sent his only Son here to Earth in order to die a torturous, hideous death to save me from my sin? Kind of puts things into perspective, doesn't it?
This year, I hope that I can keep that perspective in mind. I know that I will fail sometimes; fail miserably. But battles aren't won by lying down and accepting failure while I cry in the mud. There might (there WILL) be times when it seems like everything is lost and all I can do is just sit there for a while, crying in the mud. Let me tell you, it might hurt more than I expect, but in the end, just like my schedule, I know that everything will work out for the best, even if I don't understand it at the time.
Keep fighting, soldiers. You get knocked down, look around you. There are people around you to help you up. Don't go alone, stick close to your friends, to your family, to your Savior. Whatever happens, you'll make it through. Now let's stand up, make ready, and face this school year head-on. So suit up.
