Relax and enjoy life for awhile
Nakasha Ahmad
Senior Columnist
ÒLadies of the Class of 2000. You are now all going out into what is commonly termed the Òreal world.Ó We know, that after four years of hard work and of scholarly endeavor, you will be ready to take your places in the life ahead of you. We are confident that the education you have received at Saint MaryÕs College has prepared you to make your way in the world successfully. We are now graduating the future leaders of America.
A Saint MaryÕs education has developed skills of leadership in you so that you will be the future teachers, the future politicians, the future lawyers, the future doctors perhaps even the future presidents. In all of these fields, Saint MaryÕs women will lead others. Thus, we congratulate you, Class of 2000, leaders all.Ó
This is the kind of stuff that youÕll be hearing now that you Ñ yes, YOU Ñ are graduating from college. Apparently, the walk across the stage in our basic black ensembles changes us from the good-for-nothing slacker college students that we are to the saving grace of a world rapidly descending into chaos. We are now expected to become the leaders of the new world in which we will grandly Ñ yes, grandly Ñ take our place (while at the same time giving sufficient credit to the institution which helped us on the path to greatness).
We will accomplish grand things, write great novels, complete masterpiece works of art, rise rapidly and speedily up the ladder to our own corner office in the sky. And after we have done all that, we can take our place in the recruitment brochures as ÒJane Schmane, Class of 2000, ruler of the universe.Ó Then we would be really excellent advertisements for the education that we have used wisely and well.
Hmm. You know, right now I donÕt want to be leader of anything but the Couch Potato Brigade. I have worked, and worked and not slept for four years. Hey, IÕm even having trouble writing this column. The only problem is, I have exactly 11 minutes before I send it in to my extremely patient editor. So I apologize for the quality. But I just want to sit back on my couch, turn on the tube, and veg like I havenÕt vegged since I was 10 years-old.
True, IÕd probably be bored within a week, but do I really have to make the leap from struggling and clueless college student to best-selling novelist and syndicated columnist two months after graduation? I can foresee it taking me a good 50 to 60 years, maybe eternity to properly use my education. Maybe we should rethink this success thing.
So, Class of 2000, I challenge you to do absolutely nothing. Lead nobody. DonÕt use your education. Enjoy it. Sit around the house and read. No, not to improve yourself, read for fun. And donÕt worry if you wonÕt be on your pathway to success by June 1. No problem. Sit back and enjoy it. After all, success will probably catch up to you sooner or later.
Maybe.
Nakasha Ahmad is a graduating senior at Saint MaryÕs College.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Friday, May 19, 2000
