Eat ’em up, eat ’em up. Go cats go!
For the next four years, I will be chanting that phrase over and over. I am now part of Texas State’s community and whether I'm ready or not, classes start tomorrow. I’m not ready. I can’t be ready so fast. There isn’t enough time nor resources to prepare anybody for college. So I am tired of people asking me, “Are you ready?”
Who says we have to be? How can we be ready for something so big and new? It’s more a matter of are we willing to be flexible, get overwhelmed, get lost finding our classes, make friends, fail a class, fall in love, pay for so many expenses (do I really need this math textbook or should I buy some Ramen noodles?), be a student who tries hard to succeed, and find out who we really are as people.
When I started working at a camp this past summer, things were new. Things were difficult. I could ask a lot of questions, but the only way I learned how to do anything was by trial and error. I had to figure things out as I did them. I hate doing that. My way of doing things is knowing beforehand what exactly I need to get done. I struggle so much with control.
“Here Celeste, you can do Kayaks. You know how to work them, right? Good. Go ahead and wait at the dock. Our first group of the summer is coming in.”
I just stood there laughing and crying inside at the same time. I had just been introduced to the lake minutes before I was asked to supervise Kayaks. Literally…I hadn’t even been in the water yet. How can I be ready for something that I am not prepared for?
Haha, you should have seen me. I looked like a fool for about twenty minutes as I figured out how to best explain getting in the Kayak and paddling away from the dock. At that point, I don’t think I new the front from the back of the Kayak. (No worries…that only lasted for like 5 minutes. The rest of the summer I was fine.)
Going to college can feel similar. You are given a backpack and some books, then told to fend for yourself. As if that’s not enough pressure, you are told to find yourself too. Ah! Can I just breathe, please? But…the thing is…we create our own pressure. We believe this idea that we have to be “ready.” We believe that if we prepare enough, or study enough, or ask enough questions then maybe we will have some sort of control. But if we remind ourselves that pressure from people will only affect us as much as we let it, then maybe we can answer the question, “Are you ready?” a little bit better. We are not in control. We act like it. We feel the pressure as if we were in control. We tamper with things. We try and prepare so that we are at some level of “readiness,” but ultimately God is in control. He will hold our hand as we step into new things.
“Celeste, are you ready?”
I am willing. I am open. I am excited. I am nervous. I am overwhelmed. I will try my best to prepare for what’s ahead, but never to pretend that I am in control. So…yes, I am ready.
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