Friday, March 14, 2008
The cure for a bad test is a handful of f-bombs and a few beers, and the cure for the springtime sappiness that appears in braided fingers around campus is a good old-fashioned road trip.
Getting in the car and driving has saved me many times from becoming overwhelmed by that terrible feeling that bubbles up in my throat when I receive a blue book on which ink has bled through to the cover or stumble across Eskimo kisses on campus.
Lately I’ve heard more of the typical pre-spring break sentiments of stress, weariness and the “I’m working too hard for the little fun I’m having” smugness that comes around in early March. When professors have your brain in non-stop four-wheel drive, it’s hard to come to a complete stop and leave your stress on Daisy Hill.
Not to say that staying up late to study impedes your social life, but sitting in the glow of your computer screen muttering breathy grunts about all the shit you have to do is a picture is something we all do.
A road trip aids in sloughing off the routine into which we’ve wedged our lives in place of adventure.
To keep our minds keen and our ambitions hungry, we have to go out into the world to remember who we are outside of school.
Tom Petty put it most poignantly when he sang, “If you don’t run, you rust.”
We are all busting our asses for a degree and awards and internships, but we don’t need to sacrifice the ardor of our souls for academia. Youthful wiles and the occasional act of stupidity or spontaneity do not require that you quit your studies altogether, but serve as healthy occasions to feel more like yourself and less like a student. We all talk about interviews and what are we going to do when we graduate and whether or not we look good on paper.
Numbers don’t lie, but impressive numbers don’t warrant memorable interviews.
Road trips, whether going solo or with a few friends, are ideal instances to escape into yourself and from the banality of routine.
I know what it is like to have a destination and empty pockets, but as a proponent of soul-searching through exploration, I know that there are many locations in and around Lawrence that are worthy of wandering to.
For instance, you could go to Jardine’s in Kansas City, Mo., to hear Angela Hagenbach today or on March 28. You could drive to Lone Star Lake southwest of Lawrence, or see farms with eccentric yard art north of town. You just have to be willing to get lost.
Whether you have adventures waiting for you outside of your couch over Spring Break, stretching your legs and doing something to clear your mind is a must.
Otherwise you may need some WD-40 for those joints.
Ryan is a Salina junior in art history.
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