By Brielle Bryan
Opinions Editor
I wrapped my arms around my body and gripped the fabric of my sleeves as I stood outside Kendall Hall the night of Saturday, Sept. 30. The cool air nipped my exposed skin and made its way under the fabric of my long-sleeved shirt. My rationale for not wearing a jacket was that it had been warm and sunny all week, and my three friends — who were standing outside with me and waiting to see Josh Peck speak — were not wearing jackets either. I also couldn’t help but think that if I had checked the weather on my laptop earlier, I would have known ahead of time to bring a jacket with me.
I stood outside for almost two hours waiting to see Peck, who was a main character in the iconic show, “Drake and Josh,” and was turned away at the door because seating was first-come-first-serve and showing up an hour and 45 minutes early was still not early enough.
I can complain as much as I want, but it was my fault for not accounting for when the other students were planning to arrive. If had planned ahead, I could have definitely gotten a seat for the lecture. However, I can also complain about the College Union Board, and how they should have planned ahead for Peck’s massive turnout and sold tickets for his lecture.
CUB and I are both to blame for my distasteful encounter of being turned away from Peck’s lecture because neither of us planned ahead.
Planning ahead is how we make goals for ourselves, strategize how to accomplish them and then follow through with what we want to achieve. Without a plan, we can often find ourselves missing out on opportunities, such as getting to see a celebrity guest speak. We can also find ourselves inviting stress into our lives by not planning our weekly schedules, which can cause an uneven balance of time spent between work, school and our social lives.
By taking initiative to create a steady weekly schedule for ourselves, we can learn to manage our time properly, so we’re not cancelling on our friends when they want to hang out because we put off our class assignments until last minute.
While it’s important to think ahead and make plans, there are some things that can’t be planned.
After being turned away from Peck’s lecture, I went to Slocum’s, which is the bowling alley down the road from the College. My three friends had never been to Slocum’s, and the four of us had a great time as we socialized with the employees and bowled a close game. After we went bowling, we decided to go to Applebee’s and enjoyed multiple half-priced appetizers, which consisted of buffalo wings, spinach dip and sweet potato fries. Even though we didn’t get to see a celebrity, we got to spend quality time with each other after a long week of work and classes.
I’m glad I didn’t get to see Peck speak on Saturday night because if I did, I wouldn’t have gone bowling with my friends and spent more time focusing on the lives of people that matter then the life of one stranger. While it’s important to set goals for ourselves and plan ahead of time, the best memories we make in life are simply unplanned.
