The Fated Journey

For many years I had fought valiantly against my immense foe, high school. I had wielded the sword of knowledge and successfully slayed the two-headed beast that was AP classes and extracurricular activities to reach the end of a long and grueling war. I “brave[d] such rounds of hardship” to show my devotion to Fate (Virgil 1.12). I had reached the penultimate victory and was crowned with the laurel wreath called a cap, was given a victor’s garment called a gown, and was hailed as victor over high school, even without my victory parade. Despite this success, a long voyage was ahead where I would encounter troubled seas of friendship, a tragic love affair, and even classes- the world of the dead.

My journey began in the heat of an Alabama August when I travelled 7 hours away from home to embrace the challenge of freshman year of college. I began the journey with my head held high and devoted to following my destiny. I was optimistic that I could easily conquer any challengers put in my path, but this voyage proved to be a tumultuous one.

The first challenge my enemy threw at me was friendship. I had often heard that finding a good group of friends was a crucial step in defeating the enemy and completing the first semester. I had not often heard of how difficult it would be to navigate the waters of such a challenge. The only friends I had at the beginning were made through assorted internet conversations; however, the contact with these few friends had my introverted, awkward self feeling hopeful that college would finally be my time to develop these crucial friendships. My own optimism deceived me as I quickly realized that this “wish for friendship arises swiftly, but friendship itself does not” (Aristotle 1156b32-33).

I had convinced myself that I would have many friends that would help me along my journey, but in actuality my mind had set unrealistic expectations. Because of my own warped perspective, I was met with deep heartache time and again when I was excluded from what others were doing.  Through all of the troubles I experienced in finding close friendships, I eventually found a few in places I was not expecting, therefore they could not be ruined by the enemy of my own preconceived notions. 

After leaving the battle of friendship behind, I went on my way. I was slightly more worn down from the fight but ready to face whatever the voyage would bring. 

The next challenge I encountered was a tragic love affair. In this battle, my enemy tempted me with my first love-art. I had finally settled into a familiar routine of balancing schoolwork and other things I loved when the sweet call of creativity beckoned me. I fell quickly, enraptured by the beautiful things I could create with only a brush and some paint. I suddenly lost my devotion to my destiny and began spending my days focusing on my love of art instead of the piles of essays and quizzes school required. Procrastination became a fixture of my life and proved my love affair with my art was indeed fatal. I spent my days wrapped up in creating beautiful things and doing what I most enjoyed while neglecting my studies, the purpose of my journey. 

When I finally brought balance back into my life and left behind my obsessive love with art, the issue of social club activities emerged and further perpetuated my struggle with procrastination. I had managed to move on with my journey from one thing trying to hold me back from my academic destiny only to be caught by another.

My own desires, my own mind, became my worst enemy as I kept putting off the day’s work until the next until I had no time left. I learned that it was necessary to “every hour of the day give vigorous attention” and forfeit the things I wanted in favor of doing what needed to be done (Aurelius 2.5). From my time in this battle, I learned that even if the things that threaten to distract me from my work are not bad things, they are dangerous in how much power they had over me.

The last challenge that I encountered along my journey to the end were my classes. My classes were like trudging through the land of the dead, all of my fellow travelers succumbing to the exhaustion of battle and struggling to finish the journey. I was lost among them. I was finally able to complete my work at a respectable time yet found myself struggling to be motivated to wake up and go to class. Why would I continue the fight when my comrades were not? Nevertheless, I persisted. I never missed a day of the battle and remained devoted to attaining my destiny, finding my Fate.

As my journey to the end of the semester draws to a close I can see the beauty of its completion. I  have overcome many challenges to know that I can win the fight, and I can now see that without my devotion to my purpose, I am nothing “to myself but a guide to my own self-destruction?”(Augustine iv.i).

Works Cited:

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by Robert C. Bartlett and Susan D. Collins, University of Chicago Press, Reprint edition, 2012. 

Augustine, Confessions. Translated by Henry Chadwick, Oxford’s World          Classics, 2008. 

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations. Translated by Martin Hammond, Penguin Classics, 2006. 

Virgil. The Aeneid. Translated by Robert Fagles, Penguin Books, 2010.