Art told me that for my first editorial I should get smoking mad about something. Anything. Get mad and write.
But herein lies the problem.
Aside from worrying about why Art has begun to condition his beard, and panicking a little about the price of petrol, well, I’m pretty happy.
Ain’t that a bitch.
So instead of getting really, really mad (in the anger sense rather than the crazy sense – I got a whole lot of crazy) I am going to ask you to look around.
Sure, the weather is shit. This is Hamilton. Winter lasts for months and months and months. Drying your clothes is going to take time and an industrial strength hair dryer.
Sure, the pressure is on. You have assignments, and tests and the muscles in your neck have begun to tighten. This is university. At least twice every semester you are going to get stressed and want to smack somebody. I recommend investing in a boxing bag, or at least inviting your little brother to stay.
Sure, none of us around here earn enough, have enough, buy enough. No one said the life of a student was financially rewarding. And if they did, they lied. I’m sorry.
But, life is actually good (for most of us – I don’t want to generalise).
As students, we are encouraged to be curious. We get to think, and debate and put our ideas to paper. We get to ask questions. How fun is that?
And we live in New Zealand. For all the scaremongering from the media (as a former journalist I should apologise for that - sorry), the recession wasn’t that crippling in this part of the world. This place is pretty, the people are (generally) friendly and at this stage if you are over 18 and still upset with the world you can drink.
So, look around. Enjoy what you do have instead of getting really angry about what’s missing. Passion is good. Get fired up. But don’t let it take over your life. Enjoy the buzz and keep moving.
Oh, and, if you can’t find a park at Gate One in the morning please don’t give others the finger – that’s just plain rude.
Sorry Art – I took a personality test and I am apparently a happy clappy idealist. I’ll leave the anger to you next week.