Birthday gives pause for reflections

Oh, my aching head. \nChances are I still might be a little hungover after the activities of the past weekend. So please be kind to me if you see me on campus today. You see, I turned 21 Sunday, and a few of my good friends took me out Saturday at midnight to show me a good time, encouraging me to drink early and often. We hit up the Bluebird and played a little Sink the Biz at Nick's, along with going to a few other places. You haven't lived until you have puked outside of Kilroy's, that's for sure.\nI'm still trying to work all of the liquids from that night out of my system. Being my 21st birthday, I took a moment to myself, away from all the drinking, to think about my life. I do that every year on my birthday. It gives me a chance to reflect on the past year, what I've done and with whom I've interacted, as well as think about the future and what it might hold.\nWhile I was reflecting, something occurred to me. I was thinking about my future, and I have absolutely no idea where I want to go with my life. Some might find this thought scary, but I am actually happy. And this paragraph has summed up how college has affected my life.\nTo understand what I mean, I need to give you a little background. When I was a freshman, I had a plan for my life. I believed I would meet the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and marry her shortly after college. I also thought I would be a sports reporter, going back home to cover my beloved Cubs for the Chicago Tribune. I was planning to live in Chicago with my wife until we were about 30, when we would move to the suburbs and start having kids.\nI know, it's kind of sad that I had my whole life planned like this, but I was naive and idealistic, so give me the benefit of the doubt. \nA funny thing happened on the way from then to now. I experienced life in college. The college experience has truly changed my outlook on the world and has been a shock to me. I lived in a nice upper-middle-class Chicago suburb and had a nice life, and this gave me the impression life was simple and things always work out as you want them to. These two-and-a-half years have shattered that illusion, and I'm happy about it.\nI realize life does not always go as you want it to, and everyone will encounter hardships along the way. While I admit the hardships I have faced in my 21 years are not as difficult as those others have experienced, it has not always been smooth sailing. That perfect picture of my life I had established was just a fantasy. The classes and experiences of my college career have opened my eyes to numerous career possibilities, and I'm not sure which road I will choose to go down. I also have no idea who will be the woman of my dreams that I will marry, or even if I will meet her.\nBut these thoughts don't bother me.\nDon't worry about what will happen in your future. You can't plan your life out at 18 and have everything go according to plan. Life doesn't work that way, and if you stick to one set of ideas, you are going to miss out on a new world that exists out there. I'm now living my life in the moment, enjoying whatever might be happening and not worrying about what I will do five years down the road.