What if?

It’s a broad question with endless answers. For some reason, my mind has been wrapped around “what if” hypothetical possibilities this past week. Maybe the realization has set in now that I’m halfway through my time at Quinnipiac, but I got to thinking a lot about the last two years. What if I lived somewhere different freshman year? What if I never joined the newspaper? Better yet, what if I never came to Quinnipiac at all? It’s strange to think all the work I’ve done, and all the friends I’ve made here could’ve easily been done somewhere else. And, that’s true for everyone at QU. What if you were anywhere but here?

I thought about everything I’ve said and done at Quinnipiac. What if the last two years never happened? How different would my life be? Would I be any happier? Would I feel worse? Or would my life be exactly the same just somewhere else? Sure, I have certain regrets about the last two years, even some articles I’ve written for this very newspaper, but everything that I’ve experienced has shaped me to be the person I am today. I don’t think I’ve been as happy as I am now. It’s true when they say you learn about yourself during these years. Two years down, and I already feel like I know who I am and the person I’m meant to be. And I still have another two years left.

We can ask these “what if” statements all day long, but what good are they? I will never actually know the life I’d be living now if I went to school in Boston or New York City. I can’t imagine any friends I’d make elsewhere could even hold a candle to the ones I’ve made here. In two years, I already feel closer to people at Quinnipiac than anyone I went to school with back home for 12 years.

With all the good right now, it seems silly to ponder “what if,” but it’s a curiosity of mine that is difficult to explain. Maybe it’s me thinking about those people I wish I had never met here. It’s those people who have caused me to ponder these frivolous scenarios. However, I go back and realize those same people have helped me become the person I am now even if I wish they had nothing to do with it.

This piece is intended for those of us still struggling with the realization of who we are and who we want to be and what we want to do with our lives. I know that I still have a long way to go.

Take a second to think about your role in this community. Are you getting everything you wanted here? I would hope the answer is yes, but if it’s not, ask yourself why. What can you do to make this the most worthwhile experience of your life? Even if your answer is no, there is still the possibility that you have effected or changed someone’s life here in some way, which is just as important.

So, go ahead and ask yourself, “what if?” It may make you appreciate just how lucky you are or realize what you may be missing.