Somewhere between dining with old friends, hiking with my parents, and watching "The Swamp People" from the view of my hometown couch, I’d completely forgotten I was a student in her fourth year at university in New York City. Campus felt so far away in so short a time. Today I voted, slept in, cooked a proper breakfast, drove a car, and, in general, basked in the glory of such things that don’t usually happen in my on-campus life. So as I sit here in the airport terminal, LaGuardia-bound, two things come to mind about our college experience. The first is something I’ve written about before: the need for constant dislocation in order to gain perspective, i.e. taking time off and away from campus, whether for a long weekend or a semester abroad. Such time disconnected informs your experience on campus and makes it all the richer. Not to mention it can work wonders for balancing your life, health and vibrancy.
Maybe it's because I’ve had a smashing time away, but I’m left wondering how earnestly any of us question our experience at Columbia.
