Ryan ChartrandI am what they call a “super-senior.” Through a couple of major-changes, some careful class planning, and two absurdly patient parents I have been able to push the duration of my higher education to the breaking point.
Being in college as long as I have has allowed me the opportunity to expand my knowledge to things that I never dreamed.
Yes, I have taken Anthropology and Sociology and Botany and Geology, Geography, Political Science, Calculus and the list goes on. However, I find that have also become quite knowledgeable about other things. “Col-leh-ge” things.
For the past how-many years I have spent a significant amount of time doing things that many would deem “a waste of time” or “unimportant.” I prefer to refer to my escapades as “trivial necessities.”
I’m talking about the type of mischievous transgressions people need to have from time to time to keep themselves and those around them, happy and at least a few feet from the edge.
True, many of these times involve the consumption of alcohol. But some of them haven’t. And, as some of you probably know, drinking can be a hell of a lot of fun.
I was sitting at Spike’s the other day, sipping on a delicious Belgium brew when I caught a portion of conversation between two younger looking college-aged lads walking by.
“Bro, that couch fire last night was awesome,” one said as the other looked up with a grin. “Good-god I can’t believe how much I puked last night,” he said.
I smiled and thought to myself “Ah, youth” when it hit me. I’ve changed.
Now don’t worry, I won’t use the M-word. (Those who know me best can attest to the fact that I’ve made it a personal mission to maintain the maturity of an 8 year-old.) No, I’m talking about a certain “social refinement.”
It no longer interests me to get blacked out at Downtown Brew only to wake up thinking “O.K. so I know who is sleeping next to me, but who is that sleeping next to he. And where did that goat come from?”
As I am now close to beginning my last quarter in college I have begun to ease the gas pedal in order to enjoy more quality experiences. I have put down the beer-bong in exchange for a good deal on a local bottle of wine.
In my old age I find that I appreciate a nice quiet bar much more so than one where you are never sure what someone is saying or if they’re even talking to you.
So, if you want to come by this old timer a drink, look for me where the lights are low and the conversation good. Unless I’m blacked out at Downtown Brew, then the drinks are on me.