The view from here

I live on the third floor of my building, so I don’t really have a view. Luckily, my window doesn’t face an air shaft, so I can still see trees, dog walkers, and this really cool building that I’m pretty sure was in the movie “Enchanted.” But I can’t see beyond what surrounds me, can’t marvel at the sweeping expanse of apartments and skyscrapers that stretches across Manhattan, can’t even remember that I’m only a few hundred feet away from the Hudson. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing around me but my tiny patch of Morningside Heights.

This is kind of how I feel about going to college. Overall, college is pretty great. Nine days out of 10, I would say I love it, but it’s hard to see beyond what’s happening to me right now. If a friend I hadn’t seen in a while were to ask me “what’s new with you?” I’d probably mention the classes I have today, the assignments that are due this week, and maybe my extracurriculars. This isn’t everything happening in my life, of course, but I would have a difficult time remembering other stuff. It’s no accident that the 10 or so blocks of Morningside Heights are called the Columbia bubble—it comprises not only our physical surroundings, but also our mental and emotional focus.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with fully focusing our energies on college. We’re only here for a short time, and we want to make the most of it. But part of the point of college is to prepare ourselves for the next steps in our lives: careers, grad school, life as an adult. On the one hand, it would be unfortunate if we lived so much in the future that we forgot to enjoy the present, but on the other hand, it would be equally unfortunate if we forgot that Columbia is not just our temporary home, but our launch pad into the future. Often, we disregard both of these things. We look to the temporary future—spring break for example—as respite from the slog of assignments, focusing our energies neither on the legitimately enjoyable things at college nor on the opportunities that will benefit us in the future. This is a very third-floor way to be. We need better perspective.

Perspective is one of those things that is easy to talk about but difficult to gain. How, exactly, do you acquire it in the first place? I don’t have all the answers to this, but here is how I often stop to think about the bigger picture:

Go somewhere else. Part of the effect of the Columbia bubble is this shrinking of our vision to only the immediate, Columbia-related things. Breaking out of the bubble isn’t just about having adventure—it’s about remembering that the rest of New York exists and that most people who live here don’t study all day. Part of the reason I do a lot of my work in coffee shops is because I’m surrounded by so many different types of people—not just students, but also artists, businesspeople, and everyone in between. It reminds me that one day, I could be the writer tapping on her laptop, the mom ordering her kid a hot chocolate, or the elderly woman taking tiny bites of her pastry. This is far more motivating than being surrounded by very stressed people in Butler. And if you’re somewhere way outside the Columbia bubble (like your hometown), that’s the perfect time to …

Look back and look forward. You can also do this in your room. Whatever the surroundings, we should take the time to reflect on where we’ve been, where we want to go, and where we are now. It’s too easy to let one semester turn into another without thinking about the mistakes we made and the things we did well in the last one. During an ordinary week, it often feels like nothing much is happening or changing in my life, but when I look back on where I was two or three years ago, the changes are staggering. We can’t always see the immediate results of our decisions or dream about where they might take us in the future without taking the time to reflect.

Whatever our homework situation, whatever our current level of enjoyment, it’s nice to go up to the 14th floor for a little while and take a look at the view. It might help us remember what we’ve been doing on the third floor anyway.

Kathryn Brill is a Barnard College junior majoring in English. She is a member of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. We Should Talk runs alternate Tuesdays.