Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

Marina Keegan: The Opposite of Loneliness

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 14:13:00 -0400

This piece particularly resonates with me as I am a recent college graduate.

Rest In Paradise, Marina.

We don’t have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I could say that’s what I want in life. What I’m grateful and thankful to have found at Yale, and what I’m scared of losing when we wake up tomorrow and leave this place.

It’s not quite love and it’s not quite community; it’s just this feeling that there are people, an abundance of people, who are in this together. Who are on your team. When the check is paid and you stay at the table. When it’s four a.m. and no one goes to bed. That night with the guitar. That night we can’t remember. That time we did, we went, we saw, we laughed, we felt. The hats.

Yale is full of tiny circles we pull around ourselves. A cappella groups, sports teams, houses, societies, clubs. These tiny groups that make us feel loved and safe and part of something even on our loneliest nights when we stumble home to our computers — partner-less, tired, awake. We won’t have those next year. We won’t live on the same block as all our friends. We won’t have a bunch of group-texts.

This scares me. More than finding the right job or city or spouse – I’m scared of losing this web we’re in. This elusive, indefinable, opposite of loneliness. This feeling I feel right now.

But let us get one thing straight: the best years of our lives are not behind us. They’re part of us and they are set for repetition as we grow up and move to New York and away from New York and wish we did or didn’t live in New York. I plan on having parties when I’m 30. I plan on having fun when I’m old. Any notion of THE BEST years comes from clichéd “should haves…” “if I’d…” “wish I’d…”

Of course, there are things we wished we did: our readings, that boy across the hall. We’re our own hardest critics and it’s easy to let ourselves down. Sleeping too late. Procrastinating. Cutting corners. More than once I’ve looked back on my High School self and thought: how did I do that? How did I work so hard? Our private insecurities follow us and will always follow us.

But the thing is, we’re all like that. Nobody wakes up when they want to. Nobody did all of their reading (except maybe the crazy people who win the prizes…) We have these impossibly high standards and we’ll probably never live up to our perfect fantasies of our future selves. But I feel like that’s okay.

We’re so young. We’re so young. We’re twenty-two years old. We have so much time. There’s this sentiment I sometimes sense, creeping in our collective conscious as we lay alone after a party, or pack up our books when we give in and go out – that it is somehow too late. That others are somehow ahead. More accomplished, more specialized. More on the path to somehow saving the world, somehow creating or inventing or improving. That it’s too late now to BEGIN a beginning and we must settle for continuance, for commencement.

When we came to Yale, there was this sense of possibility. This immense and indefinable potential energy – and it’s easy to feel like that’s slipped away. We never had to choose and suddenly we’ve had to. Some of us have focused ourselves. Some of us know exactly what we want and are on the path to get it; already going to med school, working at the perfect NGO, doing research. To you I say both congratulations and you suck.

For most of us, however, we’re somewhat lost in this sea of liberal arts. Not quite sure what road we’re on and whether we should have taken it. If only I had majored in biology…if only I’d gotten involved in journalism as a freshman…if only I’d thought to apply for this or for that…

What we have to remember is that we can still do anything. We can change our minds. We can start over. Get a post-bac or try writing for the first time. The notion that it’s too late to do anything is comical. It’s hilarious. We’re graduating college. We’re so young. We can’t, we MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it’s all we have.

In the heart of a winter Friday night my freshman year, I was dazed and confused when I got a call from my friends to meet them at EST EST EST. Dazedly and confusedly, I began trudging to SSS, probably the point on campus farthest away. Remarkably, it wasn’t until I arrived at the door that I questioned how and why exactly my friends were partying in Yale’s administrative building. Of course, they weren’t. But it was cold and my ID somehow worked so I went inside SSS to pull out my phone. It was quiet, the old wood creaking and the snow barely visible outside the stained glass. And I sat down. And I looked up. At this giant room I was in. At this place where thousands of people had sat before me. And alone, at night, in the middle of a New Haven storm, I felt so remarkably, unbelievably safe.

We don’t have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I’d say that’s how I feel at Yale. How I feel right now. Here. With all of you. In love, impressed, humbled, scared. And we don’t have to lose that.

We’re in this together, 2012. Let’s make something happen to this world.

A Love Letter for the College Students

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:49:36 -0500

I’ve been there.

Books piled up in a stack beside you. Nodding off to the glow of the computer screen. Neon strips of highlighter scraped across your forehead, leftover not from a raging highlighter party the night before but rather the all-nighter spent spooning Shakespeare term papers and mind-rattling interpretations of Samuel Beckett’s best works.

Some of you are halfway. Knees sunk deep in the muds of history power points and audio projects. Stammering in the mirror before you give that final speech in class tomorrow. Still muddling through the differences between el and usted. Nosotros & Vosotros.

Some of you are stocking up on caffeine fixes and 5-Hour Energy drinks before the storm hits. A storm of finals worth 60% of your grade. 12-pagers that will have you crawling into the light of the morning, turning your study guide into a white flag to wave and surrender.

You’ll make it.

I know it. I can promise that there are holiday lights at the end of your tunnel. Perhaps it won’t be the grace of a love letter but the grace you’ll gain from the sound of the last book shutting. The sound of the last pages shuffling out from the printer and into your professor’s mailbox.

Remember to breathe. To eat. To sleep, if you can. Curl up on the couch in the campus center if that’s what it takes. Listen to the Nutcracker while you sip a gingerbread latte that you so deserve. And, on the nights where 1am comes quicker than shoppers to Best Buy on Black Friday, be the one to text your friends, “Diner. 2am. I’ll drive.”

I still keep that memory.

Unearth it as I do the ornaments that get pulled down from the attic this time of year. Uncrumpling the newspaper surrounding that time that I didn’t know I’d ever miss. A stack of pancakes. An open laptop. Hot chocolate with whipped cream dribbling from the side. All of us laughing, not knowing at the time that yes, yes, we were going to miss it one day soon.

It’s hard to believe right now as you struggle to swallow every prefix in the dictionary or every literary term you’ll need to dissect that Emily D. poem tomorrow. But the closeness of friends in one place, the justified seeing of the sun coming up before you close a book and allow in the hired sugarplums to dance as you pass out, the 24/7 sweatpants apparel for at least two weeks… you’ll miss it when it is gone.

So pick your chin up from the computer. Stand up and stretch. Take a break to call your friend and see how studying is going. If there is someone beside you, smile… propose a coffee break… treat them.

String up holiday lights in your dorm room lounge and claim that a study executed at 800 universities across the country proved that the ambiance of the teeny tiny bulbs increased final grades by a whopping 73% percent.

Ball up in a blanket and quote Elf from time to time when the room gets too quiet. A few go-to quotes: “Santa?! I know him!” “Bye Buddy, hope you find your dad…” “First we’ll make snow angels for a two hours, then we’ll go ice skating, then we’ll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookiedough as fast as we can, and then we’ll snuggle.” Take a Target break. Buy some holiday slippers for no good reason. Drive home the long way and just admire the lights for a moment or two.

Remember: It is a book. It is a test. It is a paper. That’s it. That’s all.

You’ll make it. Myself, this love letter, and anyone who has ever been there before…we are pulling for you.

Happy Holidays.

This picture always makes me smile. Happy 21st Birthday Best...

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 01:03:58 -0400

This picture always makes me smile.

Happy 21st Birthday Best Friend :)

"Steve Jobs was brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world..."

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 23:01:35 -0400

“Steve Jobs was brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world and talented enough to do it”

- President Barack Obama

I met this amazing little girl at THON last year. She was sick...

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:41:23 -0400

I met this amazing little girl at THON last year. She was sick and wore a mask so she would not spread her sickness to others. The hospital told her she could not give out hugs, but gave her yarn that she could tie around people’s fingers instead. She gave me a handful, as well as another toy.

A child’s unconditional love despite having cancer - why we THON.

Dedication to the bravest of the greatest city in the world.

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 13:08:21 -0400

Dedication to the bravest of the greatest city in the world.

FOMO

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 02:28:00 -0400

Photo I took on the Met Rooftop.

Missing NYC and all its glamour during Fashion Night Out and Fashion Week.

Also miss:

The Lot
People watching
Artichoke Pizza,The Cafeteria and Shake Shack
Sidewalk entertainment
SoHo boutiques
Met steps and (my favorite) Egyptian exhibit

Take me back.

In honor of his recent resignation. My dad showed me this after...

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:25:00 -0400

In honor of his recent resignation.

My dad showed me this after I graduated from high school and since then it has stuck with me and has become my personal motivation for everything I do - “Stay hungry, stay foolish.”

We will miss you, Mr. Jobs.

Love.

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:05:39 -0400

Love.

I can already tell this is going to be a great year with my...

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 23:04:00 -0400

I can already tell this is going to be a great year with my residents :)

"Live every week like it’s Shark Week"

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:50:12 -0400

“Live every week like it’s Shark Week”

Always a fun summer with these girls. Can’t wait to make...

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 22:40:22 -0400

Always a fun summer with these girls. Can’t wait to make more memories soon :)

"I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be..."

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:12:48 -0400

“I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.” I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

- Maya Angelou (via kari-shma)

Had the opportunity to hear her speak and she was incredible!

Bravest little boy I know. Last day of chemo next Thursday :)

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 22:41:49 -0400

Bravest little boy I know. Last day of chemo next Thursday :)

Better Than Christmas

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:07:03 -0400

Better Than Christmas

SOC 5 so far has been my favorite class at Penn State. Frank...

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 23:53:00 -0400

SOC 5 so far has been my favorite class at Penn State. Frank Clemente was such an incredible professor that taught his students how to live life with passion and integrity.

P.S. Yours truly makes an appearance at 2:30 :)

TLF Mentor Program

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 21:02:00 -0400

A couple of nights ago I met a former recipient of the scholarship I received and Penn State alumnus as part of a mentor program. After having dinner with him at Vapiano and talking for more than two hours, I realized that he was a male version of me - loves to travel (we both considered being flight attendants just to do so), values personal relationships, and would never want to do PR for celebrities.

He is currently a senior account executive at Edelman, also known as my dream job. He manages accounts of top companies such as Starbucks all while still being involved in the scholarship foundation and maintaining valuable relationships.

Most importantly, my mentor reconfirmed everything I love about my major and more. After our meeting, I couldn’t help but feel good about where I am in my life right now and where I’m headed in the future.

Just saw the third Social Media Revolution video by...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 09:24:33 -0400

Just saw the third Social Media Revolution video by Socialnomics.

Updated with the most current statistics, but nothing beats the first :)

Oh how I miss the King of Pop so much.

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 21:37:30 -0400

Oh how I miss the King of Pop so much.

I am the Master of my Destiny, I am the Captain of my Future

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:18:38 -0400

I just submitted my article for The LAGRANT Foundation, which I was awarded a scholarship from last month. Check it out!

I was honored to be acknowledged at The LAGRANT Foundation’s Scholarship Recognition Reception and Awards Program. It was a great experience to not only be distinguished for my achievements, but also to continue those achievements by learning from the most influential individuals in the industry. During the networking part of the program, I was able to speak to leaders and representatives from several prominent companies and brands.

I particularly enjoyed the speech of the keynote speaker of the evening, founding chairman of Burson-Marsteller and iconic public relations figure, Harold Burson. I was inspired by Mr. Burson as he spoke about the increasing minority presence in the United States and how it is important for companies to reflect the changing demographics. He emphasized the value of diversity not just in education and employment, but in society as a whole.

I had the wonderful opportunity to speak to the master of ceremonies of the night, national correspondent for CNN, Jason Carroll. After joking with Mr. Carroll about my university’s (Penn State) loss to his alma mater, USC, at the Rose Bowl, he provided me with his contact information to answer any questions I had and advice that I needed in the future. He talked about how he was fortunate to receive a career opportunity at a young age and is committed to giving the same opportunity to others, which is what I found to be the most beneficial to my career. I am very grateful to be selected as a recipient of a scholarship from The LAGRANT Foundation for the amazing opportunities that it has provided me with. I plan to continue pursuing my passion for public relations and stay connected and involved with TLF so that I too can help others become the masters of their destiny and the captains of their future.