My post are getting shorter and shorter... Midterms, term papers, meetings, all that on top of my personal life demands leave me practically with no time at all. Not that anybody notices it anyway. But I'm not going to whine here, I've never really expected it to be different.
I went to a reception for newly admitted students at the Graduate Center in Manhattan. Diagonally across the Empire State Building. Nice. I liked the lobby. I liked the carpets everywhere. I liked how the quiet corridors breathed serious work. I loved the library. It was a very strange experience. I still haven't formulated my thoughts on this one. At least not completely.
They admitted only 18 people so we were outnumbered by faculty members and representatives of current student body. I felt strangely at home, as if I have been waiting for this moment since my more or less mature personal consciousness surfaced. And yet... it was all so surreal, this world of PhDs and research, papers and conferences, low esteem or high esteem depending on the number of books published, wisdom and big egos or both combined in one person sometimes... They seem so amazingly happy to get hold of somebody who shares their interests. How often is their life outside these walls plagued by lack of understanding for their passion? It is sad to sense that.
But then you see some of them truly and deeply involved in some projects which they believe are going to make a difference for many people in the future and you cannot help but feel inspired by it. You cannot help but be drawn to it. Finally some people that at least try to do something. It may be successful or it may be a failure but I can say one thing - they will take this failure and learn from it. And this is what I think somehow, some day, long ago, became my motto. The best strategy that you really hope you won't be forced to use too often in your life. Don't let your mistakes destroy you, use them to make you better. I only wish it was easier to do.
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