Save the Light!

By Luci Farrell

Save the Light

For those that aren’t aware we have now entered the realm of Daylight Savings Time. This means two things. One, the first few days we all love feeling as if we have an extra hour of sleep. Two, by 4 p.m. it’s dark and everyone is ready to pass out. Many are also chalking that up to the dark weather that usually accompanies fall. Truth be told, I like the fall atmosphere. It puts you in the mood to curl up in an oversized chair, read, and watch the rain and wind outside of a window. Replace overstuffed chair with my designated stool and that’s what I do. You can usually find me in the first stool by the counter of the second window at the new Starbucks on campus. If I’m not there I’m usually in class or asleep on my couch. Exciting life right?

Now is the time it is really hitting me that I’m in my last year. Last night I was sitting in Starbucks with my friends and I was doodling my class schedule for next semester. My friend caught me staring at it asking if something was wrong. Wrong? Not exactly. I was staring at my last semester of classes. I was sitting by the few people that I have been friends with since my freshman year (actually to be honest since FOCUS) and a few we’ve picked up along the way. It’s a scary thought. We look at the years we’ve spent in schooling. I was with mostly the same people from Kindergarten to 8th grade. I spent four years in high school and made a lasting bond with one person who will be a part of my life forever. Then I look at college. Another four years and yet these people have lived with me for that time. It’s not like grade school where you have classes and go home. In college you need to learn to live together. Seeing each other daily, interacting, and learning how to cope when friendships fail. Then I think again on Daylight Savings.

Time. What do we do with our time? We look at our clocks and just laugh. Clocks are abused beyond belief. They face being changed constantly and those of us that have alarm clocks have probably at some point thrown something at that clock we truly shouldn’t have. What are we using our hours for? Are we studying? Are we spending time with our loved ones? Are we truly appreciating the time we have together?

I own up to the fact I have not always used my time fairly. I am trying so hard to use it the best way I can in my last year. I do not want to leave Chicago only having favorite memories from my first three years. I do not want to think back on my last year and remember everything bad that happened. I am using my time the best way I can. I have coffee. I do homework. I sit in a coffee shop and see the people I miss the most. I try not to be a stranger to the people who will tell you about that crazy road trip we went on our freshman year. Or about our Christmas party sophomore year. Or about the nights spent with three of us asleep on the couch last year (study session gone wrong).

Appreciate your time. Just because it gets darker early doesn’t mean the day is defeated. There is always time.

Keep Calm and Live On

Luci Farrell is a senior from New Haven, CT. She is an Organizational Communication major with a minor in Anthropology. Luci is a Resident Peer Minister on campus and chair of the Honors Program Advisory Council at Saint Xavier University.