The Era of Friends in Low Places

If my bookmarks folder were a garden, it'd be that scary one belonging to those neighbours who've long since moved out, and that's now overrun with menacing weeds, and aggressive foliage. So every now and then I go in with a weed wacker, Tomb Raider style, and hack read through them.

This is Robert Krulwich's commencement speech at Berkeley’s School of Journalism from 2011. Please watch and/or read and/or memorize. It might not change your life, but you'll probably find yourself somehow cured of your ailments.




Our Generation...

When you talk or write or film, you work with the music inside you, the music that formed you. Different generations have different musics in them, so whatever they do, it’s going to come out differently and it will speak in beats of their own generation.

On Loyalty...

Instead, think about getting together with friends that you admire, or envy... Think about not giving your heart to a bunch of adults you don’t know. Think about horizontal loyalty. Think about turning to people you already know, who are your friends, or friends of their friends and making something that makes sense to you together, that is as beautiful or as true as you can make it.

You will build a body of work, but you will also build a body of affection, with the people you’ve helped who’ve helped you back.

A way into Troy...

And maybe, for your generation, the Trojan Horse is what you’ve got, your talent, backed by a legion of friends. Not friends in high places. This is the era of Friends in Low Places. The ones you meet now, who will notice you, challenge you, work with you, and watch your back. Maybe they will be your strength.

Staying Power...

If you can… fall in love, with the work, with people you work with, with your dreams and their dreams. Whatever it was that got you to this school, don’t let it go. Whatever kept you here, don’t let that go. Believe in your friends. Believe that what you and your friends have to say… that the way you’re saying it – is something new in the world.

And don’t stop. Just hold on and keep loving what you love and you’ll see. In the end, they’ll let you stay.

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Transcript can be found here

The Last of Summer

What is it about the dying days of summer? They are so warm, and cozy, and carefree. I feel nostalgic, like I'm missing the days gone by.

But when the evening darkness starts to creep back in, and those 10pm walks become 8:30pm walks, I'm suddenly frantic, and uneasy. I try to relax and soak in the vestiges of the lazy sun, but I know that September is coming, like a bullet train through a darkened tunnel. Is it the looming threat of summer being taken away that makes me love it more so?

The sun is brighter somehow. The sky bluer, the sunset redder. Oh, these dying days.

Blue

Blue sky, blue water. A beauty day.

You are

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Grouse Grind: A Wheezing Parade

On a rainy, and foggy summer's day, we laced up our hiking shoes, put on our waterproof jackets, and did the Grouse Grind. 

The North Shore is like the mecca of REI/MEC wearing, collapsable water bottle wielding, scarily athletic folk (be prepared for children and seniors to beat you to the top). Everyone seriously looks like they stepped out of an outdoor magazine. 

The Grind is such a miserable and awesome time - a never-ending, sweaty, wheezing parade of people marching up 1200m of a mountain.

On (under)graduating

For a while, I put off writing this post because, for the life of me, I couldn’t even remember what I felt about undergrad. Which is a ridiculous statement 2 months after final exams, but no less true.

When I think back on my undergrad I have a hazy recollection of the good times, and a vague dissatisfaction with the whole ordeal. The first is easy to understand. Undergrad, as in life, is often boiled down to a few events, a small number of moments that punctuate through the days, weeks, years of school. Like that time I got published in a Neuroscience journal, or that time I (almost) face-planted in the Magic Forest, or that time I ate poutine for a whole school year.

During my undergrad, I fostered an appreciation for neuroscience and interdisciplinary work, especially within the realm of science/technology/art. I liked being a student whose responsibilities, let’s face it, included occasionally doing class readings, but always showing up for final exams. I loved the friendships I made. I loved being part of a team, a part of a system that helped me think bigger and smaller. I loved living in Europe and biking in the rain. I loved speaking in French with people who couldn’t speak English. I loved going to sittnings and living in a university town. I loved when laughter was our only shared language. I loved all of it and more.

It wasn’t until recently that I figured out the root of my dissatisfaction. I couldn’t understand this before because I was happy during my undergrad. It wasn’t until I talked to a friend that I realized that my entire undergrad as I remember it was being clouded by a semester-long reverse culture shock. My last semester was in direct contrast with one of my best periods of undergrad: my exchange semesters. Had I graduated last year, with most of my classmates and before that European jaunt, this post would be drastically different. It would be waxing poetic on (some) of my biopsych classes, detailing the virtues of working in student development and even touching on that little thing called Greek Life. Instead, I enjoyed my victory lap in some of the most beautiful places in Europe.

Exchange was an experience that’s difficult for me to articulate. I’ve described the sights (“I see France from my room!”), the classes (“I toured Copenhagen to study urban architecture!”), and the parties (“They threw a TV out of our 2^nd floor window!”). But I came back with a different outlook – on life, on friendships, on school. And the shift didn’t necessarily come from my education abroad, but from being removed from a situation I thought was normal and then abruptly being put back. I came back to my last semester wholly unsatisfied with my classes and my classmates. It became blatantly clear that so many people had the same mentality. I felt isolated and confused - why was I feeling this way? Couldn’t they understand that sitting in a lecture hall idly taking notes isn’t enough? Why were they so eager to work at some prestigious company - only to continue blindly following other people? 

That’s not to say no one felt like I felt, and definitely not to say that I am now somehow enlightened and worldly. No, definitely not. In fact, the more I see of this world, the less worldly and more ignorant I feel. But it was enough of a paradigm shift to startle me into realizing that this education, that the student that I was, wasn’t good enough anymore. Undergrad is supposed to teach you that learning is critical, that learning is knowledge, and that learning is fun. I’ve been telling people that I didn’t like being a student – but that’s not really true. I just couldn’t be my ideal student in this environment.

And so, this summer I’m creating and finding learning opportunities for myself. I’m creating the curriculum I never realized I wanted. I don’t ever want to feel like I’m settling or letting life happen to me.

I want to learn, and live, and love with intent.

Lavendar Latte Love

Cafe Medina, oh yum.