"This is the time of your life!" is a trite, condescending, and probably false statement that mature adults—who surely ought to know better—occasionally bark at youth who complain a lot or perhaps aren't thrilled with daily chores. While therapists tell us that such comments can harm the tender sensibilities of young people worried about their place in the world, older folks continue to tell them anyway, acting out a hoary ritual that could engender a dark result ("If THIS is as good as it gets, OMG! AHHHHHH!") For grownups, the nostalgia for Glory Days resides in the romantic fog of memory, of course. We forget the bad stuff.
It is interesting to observe that college teachers never seem to envy their young students. This is the primary focus of a perceptive blog by Gina Barreca, in the "Brainstorm" segment of the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription).
If you think about it, this lack of envy may occur because teachers know these individuals too well, and witness intimately the anxt, naivete, and bonehead decisions young people can make. Also, the author points out, instructors are privileged to share in their successes vicariously and, on the good days, to detect a positive role in their development. (One is tempted to argue that professors possess better mental health than people in other occupations, but there is enough evidence to the contrary out there to assert precisely the opposite, particularly at this time of the semester.)
Such broad interpretations go well beyond the point of her blog, but here's a neat passage from Ms. Barreca:
To be adorable and energetic would be great, but to feel that perpetual trepidation that I'll never find a job, a partner, a place in the world, or an apartment that I don't have to share with six other people? No deal. To feel as if the whole world is open to me would be lovely, but to live with the anxiety that I'll end up on the outskirts or end up an outcast? No thanks. To wonder whether I'll ever do work meaningful to me, let alone anyone else? Not a chance.
Comments