December 4th, 2015 | Uncategorized
With project and paper due dates, and final exams looming ever closer, I have been fairly inundated with college work. Over the final 28 days of the fall semester, I have 5 papers due, 1 project due, 1 presentation to give, and 5 final exams to take. Its safe to say my life has been flooded with schoolwork! I wake up early before class to get a few hours of work in here; I stay up late after practice or coaching to get in a few hours there. I imagine that most Masters students undergo this same feeling of drowning in their schoolwork from time to time throughout the year.
And yet, we continue to work through it. We fight to keep our heads above water. Why? I had an epiphany yesterday that I think answers this question perfectly. It happened when I was walking to the library through the pouring rain. Ireland is known for its incessantly rainy weather, but yesterday was something else. It rained nonstop, the gray sky refusing to relent. It rained so much that the road leading to WIT became completely flooded until it was un-drivable. As the droplets and the wind whipped my face, I failed to notice the puddle right in front of me.
Splash!
With my toes now swimming in my sock, I grew more and more irritated. It seemed to me like the rain and my course load were beating down on me without mercy. That, coupled with my now sopping foot, threatened to overwhelm me.
But then I began to think about all the good that the rain does. One only has to look out the window to see the amazing patchwork of green landscapes that beautify Ireland. Without the rain, that beauty could not exist. Likewise, the brain cannot be brilliant without the constant drizzle of work and even the occasional lashing downpour of assignments. Just as beauty in nature must know rain, brilliance in mind must be exercised.
It took my stumbling into a puddle to regain my perspective. I realized that I must always embrace the rain, because in the end, it is rain that allows the brain to bloom.
Victory Scholar: Katie Fox
Present University: Waterford IT
US League: NEC
Club/Community Partner: Waterford Wildcats
Alma Mater: St. Francis College
Sponsored by: Teamwear Ireland
