Friday, February 1, 2008
I’ve posited a theory which I think carries with it a substantial amount of logic, especially for those who reside in the residence halls, resting at the feet of Daisy Hill and Mount Oread. This theory can also apply to the residents of Naismith Hall. Heck, anyone who treks up Mount Oread, or the Hill, from the south side can empathize, I’m sure.
The theory is that, during the bleakest of winter months, one can measure his or her ambulant progression upward into the North wind that bears down upon him or her from the top of Mount Oread without having to rely on conventional methods of mapping a journey such as counting one’s steps or using visually recognizable landmarks to gauge where one is.
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The theory is that, during the bleakest of winter months, one can measure his or her ambulant progression upward into the North wind that bears down upon him or her from the top of Mount Oread without having to rely on conventional methods of mapping a journey such as counting one’s steps or using visually recognizable landmarks to gauge where one is.
“How?” you might inquire. “Quite simply,” I say. The distance traveled up the Hill is proportional to the amount and length of teardrops that have frozen alight your temple as a result of the sheerest of North winds cutting across your pupils as you squint defiantly toward your destination. I quickly learned this trick during the month of January in 2004, the commencement of my first semester at KU. Using this theory, traversing the south face of the Hill was a breeze, pun intended. I could reach Spencer Art Museum from Oliver Hall, ambling into the fiercest of North winds, in a personal record 11 minutes and 33 seconds without breaking into a jog.
This semester, I embark upon the final voyage of my undergraduate collegiate career. This is the final turn of the longest lap. Since that cold January of 2004, I have walked a lot, learned a lot, socialized a lot, and matured a lot over the past four years. My eyes have faced the nastiest North winds, my mind has encountered the most daunting of doubts, and my heart has weathered the harshest of heartbreaks. The broadest spectrum of emotions has run its course through my veins over the past four years. My weathered face no longer bears the burden of North winds like it once did those four years ago. Sometimes now, I find myself looking northward and smiling as Nature relishes the rare opportunity to punish my eyes once more.
But I say unto you, it is worth all the while and all the while it is worth it. Last week, I began the paperwork to complete my application for graduation. I shall graduate in May with two degrees, a feat accomplished in only four and a half of the shortest, longest years of my life. Before I end this collegiate soliloquy, I feel it necessary to impart some short words of wisdom: don’t buy a bus pass. Those frozen teardrops you acquire on your walk will melt once you get inside, and for that they will be the sweetest emblem of victory you will ever taste should you decide embrace your potential to its fullest and reach the summit of this Hill in the most unforgiving of winters.
Schwarzenberger is an Overland Park senior in political science and sociology
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