The Catbird Seat

Let’s face it. College students are great. They are a study in contradictions; at once both fearless and apprehensive, cerebral and emotional, cocksure and self-doubting, impetuous and thoughtful, innocent and jaded. They dream big, love big and worry big. They tend to have a zest for life that we thirtysomethings have long given up on. Yet they often feel isolated, depressed and aimless.
I’ve had the privilege of mentoring a UCF student this year, and it has reminded me of a world that I had almost forgotten. Late night studying and coffee-swigging with no regard for the impact it will have on your ability to function the next day. Worrying over grades (did I used to do that?) and having a heart-pounding, sweaty-palmed adrenalin-rush just before you get a test/essay/project back. The sweet relief of doing better than you thought on the aforementioned test/essay/project. What about having weekends that aren’t devoted to household chores, yardwork and/or bill-paying…does any non-college-student have that? We sure don’t.
Paul and I are friends with a few college students that periodically descend on our house at late evening hours with tales of great hilarity, passion and woe. Sometimes these tales take us into the wee hours of the night. They almost always apologize for it. We secretly love it. My college-student friends also thank me for the various roles I play in their lives: counselor, meal-provider (one of my specialties), confidante, instructor, surrogate mother, voice of reason and friend. It always surprises me. Invariably, I end up dismissing their thanks. After all, I am the one who needs to be offering my gratitude.
Why? Because being a part of their lives reminds me that there is a great big world out there. My little stay-at-home-mom world can get mighty small, to the point that I don’t even notice the atmosphere around me, both literally and figuratively. The other night I took Elizabeth for a walk in the evening while Paul gave Jane a bath. As I was walking around the lake near our house, I noticed the moon shining down on the lake, its rays reflecting off the wind-chopped water. It was a beautiful clear night, and the moon was so big and round and bright it almost took my breath. I felt so blessed; if I had been in my normal “to-do-list” mode, I’d have easily missed the whole thing. So make friends with a college student. You might surprise yourself and the see moon again. I did.

Filed under: General, Catbird, Local Color, Random Thoughts, SAHM on January 18th, 2006