What We Take for Granted

It’s Saturday night and I need to come up with two posts before the end of the week. The Undergraduate Admissions Office does not have any particular interest in what I write about, as long as what I write is quality and useful. This is great because I have plenty of freedom to say whatever I like, even complaints about Loyola if I have them (which, generally, I don’t.)

But the problem is that sometimes I sit here and just can not come up with anything about which to write. So right before I began writing this post I was sitting and staring at the WordPress blog editor trying to decide on something to say anything about. And then it hit me.

How silly is it that here I am, surrounded by tons of great experiences, great opportunities, great people and great locations, and I still have nothing to say? I think the reason that this realization just came to me was that I walked to the shore of Lake Michigan today with my mom (who is visiting for a few days.) As we approached I remarked, “You know, I guess I have kind of taken this lake for granted lately.”

And it’s true. It took a visit from my mom for me to realize that my everyday life, to which I’ve grown so accustomed, must look quite nice to an outsider. I mean, let’s take stock:

I live within walking distance of the shoreline to a literal Great Lake that stretches out to the horizon. I have a paying internship in downtown Chicago that is relevant to my career goals. I go to a school where the academic support is so great that I have 2 professors from two different schools helping me to write a “Best Practices for Gamification” paper that will establish my credentials as a thought leader in the industry. Oh, and I’ll get paid to write the paper.

I am trying to think of how to write this post without it coming across as a braggart, but I think I can do so if I keep the perspective “I need to be grateful for these things.” I am in a very privileged position. Loyola is a part of that. Chicago is a part of that. Even my friends, family, and roommates are a part of that. For me to be at a loss of things to explain to others–to not have anything to contribute to a blog post for future Loyola students to read–is inexcusable.

I just need to take a minute next time and think about my life from the perspective of an outsider. My mom doesn’t live next to Lake Michigan, and you probably don’t either. I bet there are a million things that I see every week that somebody from outside Loyola or Chicago would be interested in hearing about.

I’ll do my best to keep the field reports coming.