The School of Athens 2021

2021-03-04

The thing I miss most about college is being surrounded by well educated people my age. It was a whole city of interesting people who did things. Everyone had an abundance of free time to pursue their interests and learn and socialize with other people who shared those interests, no matter how obscure the interest.

There was a club for everything and each club had it’s own unique milieu. The meetings were interesting and the social events were lively. I can’t think of a better way to fulfill those top three slots of Maslow’s pyramid.

• I used to talk about environment and nature with the entomology and biodeisel initiative club.
• I’d talk politics with Young Americans for Liberty.
• I’d discuss existential angst with the philosophy club.
• I sang campfire songs with the outdoor adventure club.
• I made friends with an Altgeld ringer who showed me how to play the bells.
• I dicked around at the student machine shop.
• I talked about computing and geography with the members of the GIS club.

It was the Greek concept of leisure in it’s truest sense. Such a thing is hard to come by as an adult.

The internet is one such place, of course. Carpe diem.