Crossroads of Penn State Life

Last Wednesday was a very important day at Schreyer, it was the first day that we were able to schedule our classes for the next semester.  If you are like me, and set up all of your classes before midnight, so you could enroll in the first minute, then "Congratulations!"  If you had holds on your account so you can't schedule yet, then I feel sorry for you, but you'll probably still easily get into all the classes you want to.  This day, was important, even though I may be over inflating some of its importance, because it was a crossroads.

The physical representation of this crossroad is this circular path beside the Mueller Lab.  This is the area that I think of as the middle of campus, although I'm sure I am way off.  It just seems right that it would be, because it is a big, fancy circle, but its exact location isn't that important.  From the center of this circle, snakes off six different paths, each that curves off in a different way, with no ends in sight.

These pathways represent a choice in life.  Choosing the right path way seem like the most important thing that you can do in your life.  Which path will lead you forward?  Which path will take you back to where you were? Which path will take you to where you want to be?  These are all question that one can ask at a crossroad.  These questions can become so over powering that it can leave you just standing in the middle of the crossroads, not going back, but not going forward.  This leaves you stalled and just stuck, staring at the ground.

Now, all of that could be avoided by making a choice.  One choice is always the high road.  This road may appear to be the path that takes the most effort to take on.  In this case, the high road, is a set of stairs, that goes into a path that continues uphill.  This path may look like it is the most difficult, especially on the way to an 8 AM, but that doesn't mean it is the path that shouldn't be taken.  Many times the most difficult paths in life can be the most rewarding to traverse.

Another that can be taken is the straight line.  This path looks as though it's a simple, well-lit path, where you can see exactly where you're going.  This path would be the equivalent of taking the easy way in life, not doing more than is expected, just enough to get by and live, but not prosper.  However, along this path there are many branches off.  The branching parts are the small choices in life, that don't effect the direction a person is heading in life, but allows for them to do more.  These choice can be good or can be bad.  No matter what type they are, these paths can still lead back to the original one.

All of these choices in life are what leads us to where we want to be.  These choices could be something as simple as choosing our future classes, or something even simpler, such as coming to a crossroad in a path.  These choices in life may be important at times, but the most important thing to do is to make a decision, so you are not left by your own indecision.