So, if you aren't interested in reading a column that breaks this cardinal rule, then I recommend that you skip to the next column. I'm sure you'll find some trenchant commentary on the importance of diversity or that God-forsaken COMBO survey.
As this Thanksgiving holiday approaches, I urge you to relax. Find a little peace in your life.
The pressure of Princeton undergraduate life can be stifling. There are social pressures as friendships change and collide and cliques form and dissolve. There are cultural pressures as young people struggle to conform to or resist dominant trends. And there are, of course, academic pressures as papers and problems sets, long- and short-term projects come to a crescendo that threatens to overwhelm all other considerations.
As these pressures meander and combine into forces well beyond our control, I have found that it is important to set aside some time not to artificially remove myself from this world of troubles, but to appreciate the finest things of this world that transcend the daily pressures of college life. I speak not of the din of a crowded party, the uncertainty of an encounter with a mere acquaintance or of the false security of substances - all of which students commonly cite as sources of relaxation. Rather, I think about the company of family sharing a meal, a conversation and some laughs, the rapture of a great film shared with good friends or the transcendence of meaningful music (maybe classical, maybe classic rock) appreciated alone.
"But," the conscientious student might protest, "I have a paper to write, not family traditions to uphold. How can I appreciate ‘Casablanca' when I have a problem set due? I don't have an hour to waste on a symphony!"
There is a pervasive assumption that only time used working is time used well. Life's lighter side is only to be indulged at those rare moments when no work is at hand; otherwise it is a waste, a distraction. It may be pleasing, but it is a waste nevertheless, to be reflected upon as a missed opportunity to work.
This is ultimately wrong, unfulfilling and unhealthy. Whenever pressures mount and work bears down - like at this critical time in junior year, which inspired this column - it is then more than ever that you must set some time aside to appreciate the finer experiences this world has to offer. It is then more than ever that you must find some measure of peace in your life.
The obsessive pursuit of grades for their own sake - in exclusion of other considerations - is ultimately self-defeating. What good is an aced final exam if it is achieved at the expense of peace of mind? What good is a 4.0 if, after four years at Princeton, you have few fond memories of your time here?
I submit that the benefits of relaxing at an orchestra concert, accepting a friend's spontaneous invitation to gather and converse (maybe all night) or going out to dinner with family over break outweigh, to a great degree, the potential, marginal cost to your GPA. I advocate not for ignoring grades entirely; they are important, very important. But half a letter on a midterm paper purchased at the expense of a memorable gathering of close friends or relaxation at home over a break (such as this Thanksgiving) is, ultimately, a raw deal.
Because, when you look back on your four years at Princeton, you won't remember the grade on each exam, paper and problem set. They won't matter anymore. You will remember the first time you heard Mahler's Ninth. You will remember watching the sun rise over Poe Field on a Saturday morning after a night of spontaneous conversation. You will remember singing Christmas carols with a professor accompanying on his banjo. These are all experiences I've had at this place when I could have been working. But I wasn't. And I shouldn't have been.
You must allow yourself some moments of tranquility, some moments that, both in experience and in memory, transcend the daily grind and bring you to a fuller appreciation of this world, this life and, if you are so inclined, the God who created both.
I am very happy to have been able to write this column going into Thanksgiving break. It is an appropriate time, no matter how much work is on the horizon, to find a little peace with family and friends.
Good luck.
Brandon McGinley is a politics major from Pittsburgh, Pa. He can be reached at bmcginle@princeton.edu.
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