The River Why

At Texas Christian University, the students take pride in participating in as many organizations as possible, and over all just being successful. I feel that is very seldom to meet someone not involved in TCU Greek life and if they are not, then they are apart of something else, such as AED or the crew or SGA! TCU courses are rigorous work, but they do not prevent students from putting more on their plate. It seems to be a student consensus to use TCU to the best of our ability. All of my peers are constantly working as hard as they can in their classes and beyond. This involvement causes students to travel from one scheduled event to another. For example, I wake up at 8, study for an possible pop quiz, go to class at 10 and again at 11, grab lunch, meet with my conversation partner at 2, another class at 3:30, workout at 6 and FCA at 8… and this is only Monday! Where in my schedule am I able to take a breather, have some down time, check on my best friends or make a phone call back home?

            I think that all college students, or at least all TCU students are struggling with this. We are easily so caught up with our tasks and schedules, that we are not making time for what should be most important and what is going to last beyond college. The same week that we were watching “The River Why,” we learned about creating life long relationships in FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes), so this lesson hit me pretty hard. The speaker used himself as an example as he addressed this problem. He had played baseball from grade school up until his junior year of college. This was his priority and the most important thing in his life. All of his friends were on the baseball team and his lifestyle was centered on the sport. But when the task was over, nothing was left. He no longer had a reason to see his “friends” on a daily basis, and his relationships diminished. He had no one to turn to at this stage in his life. From this, he was an advocator of the concept that relationships are always most important. He advised us to always devote time to our relationship with God and our relationship with Godly people. At the end of the journey, these relationships will stand. Instead of having a group of people “clap and walk away” at graduation, we should have life long friends to stay forever.

            “The River Why,” centers on the same idea. The main character Gus leaves his home and lives his life out in a log cabin. In the first scenes at his new home we see his perfect schedule of what he wants to do every day. Living alone and fishing every day seems to be the perfect lifestyle until that is all that he has. Throughout the book, we see his perspective change especially as he becomes interested in a woman. In the last scenes of the movie, he seems to be truly happy with his girlfriend and family surrounding him. Relationships are much more important than tasks.

            Reflecting on this lesson and my lifestyle, I realize that relationship growth is definitely something I need to work on. Spending quality time with friends and family hardly ever happens like it did in high school. College students are really wrapped up in making the best out of their time and experience, forgetting to spend time with each other. Very seldom do I make time to spend with my peers that is not also spent doing something else. I hang out with my best friends at cheer practice or even studying organic chemistry. Will these relationships even exist when the task is gone? I think that we all need to put a little more effort into our relationships. Breaking down in front of others and having true heart-to-heart conversations should be more important than they are made right now. Being successful in our tasks college is a great thing, but having relationships that will last the rest of our lives is a better reward from college.