Yikes, so can we talk about how it is Carnival season already? WHERE ON EARTH DID THIS SEMESTER GO? I’ve just been over here in Italy, livin’ the study abroad life, which has basically been a self-imposed competition with myself of how long I can go without wearing a real bra. And let me just say, time goes by really fast when your main goal in life is to avoid certain items of clothing.
But look, if I were back at CMU [okay, I’ll admit, what I meant to say is real life], the only object that would be keeping me sane right now would be the goal of making it to Carnival. That magical time of year when we get school off. Seriously, can we take a moment to consider how we actually get a school day off? How does Martin Luther King only merit half of a day while Carnival means two full days off? I’m not going to complain though. At the end of the day, Friday brims with potential to become part of the story that begins with “Omg, do you remember that time during Carnival when…”
What will your “…” be? Have you thought about it just yet?
For some, it will be stories about Booth, which I always knew was a weird concept but in trying to explain it to some of my classmates abroad, have really faced some opposition.
For example, the other day, I was trying to explain Carnival and Booth to some of the people that were sitting around me in class.
“A house? Like Lincoln Logs?”A boy asked me, he was very perplexed.
“Noo, they are like structures. House structures.” I try to clarify.
“Oh, like Legos then.” Another guy is certain.
“Noo.”
In the end, I just pull up the midway cam on my laptop and the two boys are fascinated. They still don’t understand (which they tell me multiple times) but their eyes are glued to the screen.
For others, Buggy might be involved. When I first heard about people getting up at 6 or earlier on the weekends to push contraptions up and down a hill, I decided that dealing with those crazies, and the kids that were asking if anyone was bringing rice cookers on the Class of 2015 page, was just part of the Carnegie Mellon experience. Turns out I became a crazy and am thoroughly disappointed in not being able to push this year. The length of time you spend on actual race day pushing the buggy is nothing without the morning practices and midnight rolls that precede it.
I’ll ask again, what will your “…” be?
Wouldn’t it be a pity to be the person that has gone “so hard” they are passed out on a lawn somewhere on Beeler? Because that isn’t “hard” or even remotely cool. That’s just when their story will end at the point where they…passed out on a lawn.
So enjoy yourself; be conscious! Look around and relish in the weirdness of Booth and Buggy. Marvel at the fact that you attend Carnegie Mellon and savor how glorious a weekend “off” feels, especially in the face of homework assignments and test the following week (it would be classic Harvey Weinberg to schedule a statistics exam for Monday, am I right?) Spend time with your friends that are normally buried in the depths of Hunt or hidden on one of the floor with Gates. Wait 20 minutes for all the 61 buses to arrive at the same time so you can catch a ride to Squirrel Hill, treat yourself to a nice meal surrounded by said friends and have conversations about something other than school. But all the while be appreciative of the fact that your friends get it: they understand what it’s like to be at Carnegie Mellon, and precisely how much a “break” means to you. How Carnival is much more than just a day or a weekend off. It is a time to make memories, to fill in the “…” from an endless realm of possibilities outside of the normal days of working diligently and without pause.
You all deserve it.
P.S. I’ll be over here, wishing I had a fast forward button to Carnival next year.