I think one of the best things I have ever received from the Life Course Scholar Program was the sense of community; the space to share, to be heard, and to hear from others. Today we had the opportunity to present on the first half of this quarter’s reading work: Happiness is a Choice You Make by John Leland, a truly thought provoking piece on what it means to value and cherish life throughout all ages and stages. Although I had expected great conversation given the nature of the class and our close ties to one another, this week was especially raw and rewarding. I think one of the biggest things I personally got from reading Leland’s piece was the accepting the paradox that the things in life that make life most worth living (love, friendship, connection, etc.) are often the things that make saying goodbye to life so difficult. It’s not an easy subject - many of us are approaching the age and mindset in which a big part of our future will be to take care of our parents (just as they have taken care of us throughout our childhood and adolescence). It is, and will continue to be, a continuous grapple with the topic of love and loss. For myself, I find it challenging my usually ambivalent views about my future career and life work balance. Another paradox - the best way to serve and support my loved ones seems to be to keep going to school to work, but to go to more school and to work is to forgo possible time spent with my loved ones. I could say it’s a problem of the system and leave it at that, but it’s disheartening to remain unsolvable and unanswered. It’s definitely an important conversation that will continue throughout our course (and lives, for that matter).
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Andrew NguyenWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
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