The Meaning of Life (Written by Eve Curras)

   Our world is a never-ending continuance of milestones.  From the moment we are born, a set of expectations are imposed on us.  The first expectation is receiving an education.  Every student in America legally has to attend school or at least receive some form of an education.  Once receiving a high school degree, a general objective of most students is to be accepted into a good college.  After receiving a college education, congratulations, you have finally made it into the "real world."  Most will enter the work force, and if you conform to what society's deems appropriate, within the upcoming years you will get married and start a family.  From then on, the process repeats itself.  Soon your children will conform to the same expectations you did.  They will find themselves, like you, living from one milestone to the next.  After your children have started their own families, perhaps by now you've considered retirement, depending on your age and particular job.  For a brief period of time there is only one milestone left, this one far more morbid than the rest, and that being death.

   I find that often I get caught up living from one milestone to the next.  Even from a young age I was always very school-oriented and took great pride in academic achievement.  My parents both instilled in me the importance of receiving an excellent education.  I was told that if I did well in school- somehow this meant, in the long-run, my life would be easier and better.  I've come to find that that ideal is entirely false.  There are people who work tirelessly and put in the exact same effort as the person next to them, but for some reason they are not as successful- even if they deserve it.  I have learned that life isn't fair, and bad things happen to good people-- so I have asked myself the same complex question multiple times: what is the point of life? What is the point of the hours upon hours of work I subject myself to, all so that it will pay off in the long run?  Life is short.  I want to enjoy it while I can.

   I have come to a certain understanding as I've gotten older that I need to enjoy the present and worry less about what lay ahead of me.  I'm constantly hearing from folks of the older generation that I need to enjoy myself while I'm young because someday I'll look back and wonder what exactly I had drained away my life doing.  I used to disregard their warning, deeming it insignificant, but I've realized why I hear it so often.  It is because it's true!  Life is passing us by.  Everyday I grow older and I need to ask myself- am I happy?  Am I happy with who I have become and the decisions I've made?  The great thing about life is that each day we get to make new decisions that will pave the path to our future.

   So, I ask myself again, what is the meaning of life?  Is it to settle down?  Work a 9 to 5 and raise my children in our lovely home, white-picket fence and all?  I've come to accept that I just don't see that being the path for me.  If that means once I hit 18 I'm running off to to Culebra, Puerto Rico to take surfing lessons and learn the secrets of the ocean with the Natives- then that's where I'm headed. The meaning of life- it is to find out what makes you tick.  Don't conform.  Life with intention to discover what will make you happy, not what others tell you will.