That's What V Said

Life and the Abominable Snowman

Posted by vsaid on June 6, 2011 · 2 Comments 

*Opinion*

Madness, stress and chaos can be metaphorically illustrated by a computer game my grandma used to play when I was little.

We had…wait? What was it? Microsoft 94? Dial-up internet. Remember that slow connection? In the game, you had to use the mouse to guide a skier down a mountain, avoiding randomly spread out pine trees to keep the skier from crashing.

Simple enough, but then, without warning…sometimes random enough to make you jump, a crazy yellow-eyed abominable snowman waving his stick arms about would scramble onto the screen and gobble up the skier. And you lose.

The funny thing about the game was that it was pretty much impossible. All you had to do was guide that skier to the bottom of the mountain, but the snowman always ruined everything. The snowman represents life’s unfortunately negative unpredictability’s. That snowman is life’s lemons. That snowman is life’s madness, stress and chaos.

I don’t know why my grandma loved it so much. I assumed she enjoyed the adrenaline rush when the snowman would pop out with the same suspense as a Jack In The Box. It scared the hell out of me.

Nowadays I try to be more prepared for the abominable snowmen that try to keep me from making it to my everyday finish lines. If there is one thing I learned after graduating college last year, it’s that complacency is basically giving up. And to make it in life we all have to “keep on keeping on” no matter what.

This August I will be attending the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism. I am so excited and very nervous. I’m nervous about living in New York City, I’m nervous about living away from my family for the first time and getting homesick, I’m nervous about whether or not I’ll do well in the school, I’m nervous that I might not end up with a career in journalism like I’ve always wanted.

I know I’m going to be in a city that is in itself mad, stressful and chaotic when I land in New York on August 1. So until then I will be trying my best to not freak out and relax in Virginia Beach with my family and friends before I leave.

Aside from trying my best to be strong in stressful situations, I have always been able to rely on close friends and my family for support and sound advice. And I know they will be there for me even when I’m not here in VA Beach.

And I also know that NYC gets way more snow than VA Beach does… so I’m expecting those snowmen.