Taking Time to Do Things the Right Way

During the registration process for spring semester classes, my absurdly ambitious naivety conditioned that I would enroll in Early American Literature, United States History, and Individual Sociology all in the same semester. I should have predicted that this toxic combination of classes would bring upon me more required reading than my lethargically cautious comprehension could, well, comprehend. One may speculate that my concern for the copious amount of reading stemmed from a collegiate laziness, but I can assert that my main cause for alarm was the prospect of quasi-engagement. I believe if I’m going to do something, I might as well become entirely immersed it in order to extract a full experience. This personal maxim is certainly not limited to the realm of academia, but is also reflected in an activity dearer to my heart, the recording of music.

The process of recording a song can be a tremendously rewarding experience, as well as a tremendously frustrating one. A personal irritation of mine is the unnatural practice of playing along with a metronome. Occasionally, I become so frustrated with the metronome that I give up on it and record sans timekeeper. However, I have realized that using a metronome is an essential step, and the difference in cohesiveness between the songs I have recorded with a metronome and those I recorded without one is a testament to its benefits. A comparable thought process of taking time is applied to my attitude towards education.

I believe that to actually learn something is to allow myself the time to examine it intimately. For example, I imagine I could spend a whole semester examining three short stories by James Joyce, rather than endeavoring to force two hundred years of English literature into the same time. By not trying to rush through a superfluous amount of information, I believe that the material covered could have an enduring effect on my life and not end up filed away like random trivia. Just as it may take twenty takes to get a part down just right with a metronome, it make take five readings of a text to fully grasp what the author is aiming to convey. Consequentially, I express a similar sentiment towards living life.

The happiest times in my life are those that move at the pace of a jog, rather than a run. Accordingly, I strive to do a number of things in order to maintain a deliberate speed, among which are: the wise selection of words when speaking, limitation on the number of engagements I make, and self-allowance of flexibility to discover my passions, which is what I believe to be the single most significant action that a person can engage in. Spending the time to execute this pursuit, though difficult, can ultimately lead to a fulfilling life. Slowing down and taking the time to do things the right way, whether it is the recording of a song or the evaluation of a short story, is something I believe can benefit everyone.