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Opinion

Look back, forward at semester's end

Josh Delano
Opinion Columnist

Sometimes there are those of us who take a class and discount from the beginning everything that comes out of the professor's mouth. 

Then there are those classes that actually broaden our horizons, enlighten us and change the way we see the world. 

For me personally, nearly every semester has been like this as I've slowly opened my mind to more and more, not dismissing certain viewpoints but embracing them. Not only are our university years for the broadening of our horizons, but for every relationship and experience with which we come into contact-- every book we read and every movie we watch. Who can be the same after reading Machiavelli, Rousseau or W.E.B. Du Bois? 

Another semester is gone, yes, and many are still subscribing to the fake-it-til-you-make-it theory of just getting through the semester. 

However, for those of us who wish to make everything we touch and everyone we meet an experience that we may learn from, this is for you. 

For every joy, heartache and pressure we go through, we carry with us the knowledge we've gained from the good and the bad. 

We know that we too can make it through. This life is not some insurmountable peak, nor an unattainable goal. We've made it through another trial and are one step closer not to the summit, but from mountaintop to mountaintop. These are our mini-successes, and these are our times for celebration. Yet we know that the lesson lies in the valley -- not in the mountaintop. We all get one step closer to one of many goals in our lives: graduation. 

Our lessons and trials don't end here as there are many more to come. We're only enjoying one level of success and preparing for life, where the real challenges and journeys lie ahead with lessons of love, failure and both broken and fulfilled dreams. 

So enjoy this mountaintop because next semester -- even those of you who are graduating -- is not the end but the beginning. There is a valley ahead, but always remember there cannot be valleys, or trials, without the mountaintop to come.

Delano, an opinion columnist for The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached at LouisianaCoastalPreservationPAC@yahoo.com.