school is a unique creature. being in school or being out of school or talking about school stirs up many emotions. there’s no feeling quite like the last day of summer vacation, or the first day of school. there’s no other experience that gives you the same feeling that you get when you are sitting in lecture, feeling yourself getting older, feeling a heachache being born, formulating an estimate of how long it’s been since you last looked at the clock, thinking about how lucky you were to be doing nothing last week, beginning to regret how little you appreciated the time off. little else really intimidates you in the same way that teachers talking about exams do. school makes time stand still the same way that people say that fun makes time speed up. i think that’s why students don’t die from all this time travel, because ultimately the super speed of fun and the sloth-like speed of school add up to normal time. but people out of school don’t have either extreme, i don’t think. they may have fun, but normal people fun, fun without the distinct and precise knowledge of what being in school would be like at that point in time, not warp speed fun but normal time fun. in the end, people who find ways to have fun that speeds up time die younger, whereas people stuck in jobs they hate and miserable monotony live longer. i don’t really know what i would prefer, or what i may shoot for. i like having fun as much as the next guy, but if having fun means dying, maybe i’d rather tone it down. maybe people should keep this in mind, and when having a particularly fun time should excuse themselves, walk home, and wash some dishes or study grammar. i have two and a half more years of having my fun neatly distributed to me in small quantities. and for that i am thankful. but after that time, i think i will struggle with when to have fun. it’s the kind of grown up problem that kids don’t really deal with. they have fun all the time, maybe explaining why you only remember like five things about your childhood. in the end, i think it’s best to go with the flow. it you’re a thrill-seeking daredevil, it’s probably best to go out with guns-a-blazing. if you’re more thoughtful, more cautious, you should stay true to your style. once those fun-loving bastards die, you get to run things.
