Listen to a reading of the Stop the Stress, Enjoy the Sunset While You Can blog.
The University of Rhode Island: a school that is constantly finding a way to make me walk up a hill, but close enough to the ocean to enjoy a sunset that the movies can roll credits to. My time here is coming to an end, graduating at the end of this semester, with nothing set up afterwards. I was going to write this about how a lot of graduating students are in the same boat. Applying for jobs, going through the interview process in hopes to land a job for the future, while still having the normal stresses of being a student. While talking to fellow students, it’s not hard to tell that they have a lot on their plate: final senior projects, applying for jobs, a current job, and stressing about the future. It made me ponder, with all of this on our minds, when are we supposed to take a second to enjoy the time we still have left here in college?
As I am currently writing this, it is 50 degrees and it is February. Who would have thought that was possible after the two feet of snow we got a week prior? I have no clue when I will be lucky enough to live by the ocean again and breathe in that sea air. So, from now on, I am taking “save it for a rainy day” to heart. Well, after I finish this, then I am taking it to heart. Especially with how fast the past three and a half years flew by, and having some of it get taken away due to the pandemic. Take an extra second to enjoy where you are in life at this very moment instead of worrying about what comes after. Make sure that you set aside time to prepare for the future, but remember that it is so important to enjoy the time we still have here at URI before entering that big scary thing they call the real world.
We will have plenty of time to explore the real world, quite literally the rest of our life to figure that out. We only have three months left in our college experience, so even if your plate is full, try your best to leave some room for dessert. School, internships, and preparing for the future are all necessary, but mean nothing compared to the lasting memories that can be created with lifelong friends. We are only college students for a small amount of time, and the time that you have with your friends here is limited. Enjoy the time with friends and be involved in all the things that made your college experience so special, because you all know now that it can be taken away so fast.
Remember though, we still have to graduate. I can’t be held responsible for someone failing classes because they were “living their best life” and running around like they are the main character. Respect though. Everyone has what feels like a million things going on but try to stay in the moment because in 3 short months, it will have passed. Either off to go home to work a summer job or graduating, most likely going separate ways from life long friends that you would see everyday and even live with. So enjoy the good days, people, and fun times while they can still be made.
What’s up, team? My name is PJ Sharry, and I am a senior Journalism and Sports Media student in my last semester at URI. I am originally from Worcester, Massachusetts, known back in the day as the three-decker capital of the world, but besides that, the city is mainly only known for the new WooSox or as the birthplace of the smiley face. In my free time, I have always enjoyed being outside and being active, mainly through sports with friends like golf, skiing, or any activity that gets me outside and in nature. Just about any sport or game sounds like fun to me, which is why Campus Recreation has had such a big involvement in my college experience. This is my first semester writing for the Campus Recreation marketing team and I am excited to share how important these programs were to my college experience.