[lapse] in time

a few days ago, some friends and i were enjoying dinner. the night was filled with the usual banter...nothing out of the ordinary. that was until a small mob of people rushed in, armed with banners, balloons, and cake! within moments the place was converted into a surprise party for our waitress! as they hung the banner, it became apparent the reason for the festivities was to celebrate our waitress's tenth year of working there.

the whole place celebrated, the manager gave a speech thanking her for all her hard work over the years, friends toasted, people applauded, the camera guy cried....it was all very cool.

as the place simmered back down, we personally congratulated our waitress, and went back to our socializing. naturally, our discussion found it's way to what we were all doing ten years ago. my initial thought was, "wow, ten years! that's such a long time!" however after doing some quick math, i realized ten years ago was only 1997! how could this be? where did the time go.

answer....college.

how did the time pass so quickly? did seaton hall somehow compress time? does it have the required critical mass to produce the gravitational pull necessary to warp the space time continuum? could it be the all nighters? the caffeine? the stress?

i have a theory. as hard working little architecture students, we all knew that on the average, the four days before a project felt like one day. some more, rarely less. therefore we can then say that four days to the average college student equals one day for us. being extremely generic and keeping simple math, four years becomes one.

any takers?
it's almost as if upon entering the college of architecture you entered a coma.....time passes...you graduate, you wake up, and suddenly it's five to seven years later!

now to the point. i don't know if it's because it's august and school's starting again, or if it's because four days, really do feel like four days. but looking back at this coma, i can't help but think, what a wonderful environment it was to be [stuck] in. i'm not just talking about manhattan, although i fully believe it's one of the most beautiful cities in kansas, but rather the college atmosphere. the energy, the life, the experiences, the wonder, the people........

now, i'm not saying that life isn't exciting now. there are new goals, aspirations, experiences, adventures... it just seems like it's on a different time....real time.

we may have all been in comas, but what a wonderful dream it was while we were in it.