SuNsHiNe DaIsY

College stresses me out. For something that began as an institution where one could go with the sole purpose of gaining more knowledge, universities are becoming more of a norm and less of an intellectual option.

Yes, I love to learn. I can sit down and listen to someone rant for hours about a topic they are passionate about. I pride myself on being a good listener, and if the topic happens to interest me too, I'm likely to remember most of that information.

But college is not doing that for me. Here I am, about to finish my second year, and still being obliged to take classes that I have absolutely no interest in and that I could care less if I were to be called ignorant on the subject. Why is this being forced upon us? Will it really impact my life not knowing that [z] is a fricative alveolar voiced consonant? Yeah, I don't think so either.

Here is my idea of a perfect university:

1) You can go to college for as long as you want, whenever you want, and not even declare a major. Now, of course you wouldn't be getting a degree for this, but you would be learning a heck of a lot more and probably getting more sleep (and thus leading healthier lives).

2) At the end of a course, you can choose whether or not to take a final exam. If you think you can do well, you can take it and show it on your résumé. If not, at least you learned something.

3) You don't need to do the assignments (this kind of goes along with #2). Now, obviously you would benefit by being responsible and obeying your instructor, but if you just don't have the time, you don't have to do anything and you can just keep learning stuff in class.

4) You don't need to graduate (also somewhat repeating myself here). If you want a nice fancy frame for your foyer, or you're going to med school or some other genius educational program, go ahead. If you're only here to learn, keep learning! Don't stop now! Spend your entire life in college, paying just for the courses you register for, taking the exams you wish to take and enjoying the experience.

As you probably noticed by now, I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT TO DO WITH MY LIFE. It makes college that much harder. I don't know what path to follow. It doesn't help that I'm pressured for time and expectations. Also, I have poor time management (horrible, actually), and no matter how many time-management seminars and workshops I go to, I can't seem to figure it out. I love planning, I just suck at following through with my hour-by-hour, neatly-decorated, colored-coded, oh-so-pretty schedule.

Okay. Enough of that. I have an essay to write.

Vuelvo mi cabeza cada dos segundos para ver si estás ahí.

Mil mariposas en mi estómago esperan tu llegada.

Voy a verte reír y mirarte a los ojos.

Es la parte más feliz de mi día.

Tú... me haces feliz.

... y mi mente se debate entre el consuelo o la condena...