third year nicolas horne

“Meth up the ass” — a phrase I used in a class discussion this week with one of my professors. That’s college. Seventh grade me would have never dreamt of saying the phrase and eleventh grade me would have been suspended for days if I brought it up in class. The moment I said that phrase, I had a mini epiphany, realizing just how much I’ve grown up and how different life is from even just a few short years ago. I’m sorry Mom, but “meth up the ass” was exactly what I needed.

When you live your same life every day, it’s hard to appreciate and notice changes. I mean, yes, most of us noticed when we moved to Athens, and appreciated it because Go Dawgs, but more minute and subtle changes are hard to grasp when your days blend together. I like to go on adventures and try new activities. I have joined organizations and started and finished projects over the last year. Maybe my life doesn’t always look the same and maybe I am not always doing the same things, but my internal changes aren’t as apparent. These kinds of differences are harder to articulate.

I guess that in itself could be the problem. These changes and ideas are difficult to articulate, but it is vital that we understand them. They are the whispers of who we are. The most important information is classified, encrypted, complex...whispered. It asks that we pay attention to it and care to understand it. Declassifying these changes and decrypting our own subtle changes are paramount to understanding ourselves and where we are headed. Ask yourself what is changing, why it’s changing, and how you feel about that change. These ideas ask us to care, but they do not demand it. Years can pass without us realizing how different we have become until the entire picture all of a sudden shocks you like some meth up the ass.

Growing Up, Slowly