Sage Advice

There's a kid in one of my grad classes who I think is one of those undergraduate over-achievers. It's fairly obvious since just about everyone else in the class is a career-type who works full-time and then takes classes at night. This guy is probably some uber-dork who loved his undergrad DSP course and couldn't wait to learn more. Whatever.

Anyway, the kid sort of reminds me of myself (in appearance) when I was in college except he's even sloppier and schlubbier than I was. The bad clothes (style-irrelevant and oversized to cover excess pounds), the week-old facial hair growth, and an inability to even look a woman in the eye are all there and frighteningly familiar to me. I feel like I should say something to the guy so that he can avoid the utterly sexless existence I lead in college. Don't get me wrong I had a blast in school but it was mostly confined to drinking with my friends, playing a lot of music, and drunkenly eating Gumby's pizza in various academic buildings at 2am (that was our idea of being adventurous). Women were something I saw in passing or who had sex with my friends. They regrettably were not a part of my everyday college experience.

Somehow I'd like to shake this kid by the collar and tell him to snap out of it or else he's gonna piss away the longest most expensive party he never truly attended. I'm not saying he should change his whole lifestyle but at least take advantage of a few opportunities. I had a lot of ground to make up when I graduated those many years ago. Maybe I can spare this kid a little wasted effort.

Fuck it. Let him figure it out for himself.