Life should not consist of a constant state of waiting. As students, I think we have become slaves to the mindset that we must sacrifice the now for the hypothetical later. But I believe this thought process eliminates the beauty of – bare with me – carpe diem. Now, while this aphorism makes me cringe ever-so-slightly, it is true that we should live our lives with the goal of seizing each day.

Recently, I underwent a quarter-life crisis. With the weight of college acceptance/denial/deferral letters pressing down on me, the oppressively grey skies, and the repetition of activities outside of school, I grew concerned that the habitual patterns of my everyday were causing me to become painfully boring. And what was worse, I had no idea what to do about it.

I asked friends if we could do outside of the normal weekend activities of watching movies and playing Super Mario Brothers, but we all struggled to find an activity that would be fun and not break the bank.  In these Winter months, I have found that it is more difficult to step outside of my comfort zone and challenge myself to become a more adventurous person because much of what surrounds me seems so dreary. But these are not good excuses. So, this column is a friendly reminder to live – not just survive – through winter.

Someone once told me that, “only boring people get bored.” I fully believe that with the creativity of the human mind and the vastness of the world and its activities, boredom should be difficult to achieve if you are actively seeking out new experiences. So, as we entered into this new year, I vowed to myself that I would ditch the habits of Netflix and social media and my somewhat hermit like nature, and try to seize the day.  Often times, I believe people becomes snared in technology and enter into a rut void of human intimacy — especially in Winter when we spend so much time indoors.

So, remember this: there is a world beyond the cold and grey, there are still adventures to be sought, and there are always new friends to be made. I encourage you to stop waiting for weekends, for high school to be over, for college to start, and consider each day as just another jumble of directions and opportunities and make the most of each and every day.