I bet Michael Jordan watched basketball players with wide eyes when he was a little kid. Robert De Niro certainly loved movies, and I'm sure Barack Obama could recite the American presidents in order by the time he could write in cursive. It's natural for us to surround ourselves with inspirations. I believe the most successful people lead their lives the way they do because someone motivated them to do so.
As appealing as sitting on our butts in front of "Planet Earth" for the next three and a half months sounds, unless we want to become earth studiers, that really won't get us closer to ultimate success - and who doesn't want that?
I know I'm a theater buff and tend to talk about it a lot, but it being my major and all, it just sort of works out that way. If you haven't seen a show here, I urge you to do so because some of the best work has surfaced this past semester. Of course I'm drawn to musicals, but the last play I saw in Strother Theatre took my breath away. Granted, I am always thoroughly impressed with the talent this university possesses, but "Polaroid Stories" pushed me to a place that I hope to someday be as an artist. In our most exhausted states, sometimes it just helps to be reborn by an odd trick that we've loved forever.
I always find summertime to be a time where we can reinvent ourselves. People come back to school 40 pounds lighter, some of us 30 pounds heavier (yikes). Some of us are still paying the government for that time we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sound familiar? We can get over our ex-boyfriends, get engaged, meet celebrities or just flirt with the pretty lifeguard. Summer can give us a great tan or a dreadful three-month hiatus from everything that's entertaining. We can study in Spain or live with our parents.
I challenge you to be inspired this summer. Surround yourself with opportunities for a life change, even if you are staying in Muncie or living in your parents' basement. Expose yourself to your life passions, and after seeing the best of the best, you'll want to push yourself more than ever. It's like a drug, an addiction.
This summer I will be writing from my passion: New York City. This Midwestern girl will dazzle readers with the obstacles that one must go through to tackle a city such as New York. I will have no choice but to be wowed with this foreign place that is swimming with talent, amazing food, beautiful people, diversity, culture and, most of all, challenge.
Have a blissful summer, Ball State University. Take road trips. Make money. Play in the sun. Get in shape. Eat ice cream and don't feel guilty. Fall in love. Make art. Miss your roommates. Expand your mind. Run from the cops. Drive with the windows down. Make good choices, but don't beat yourself up over the crappy ones. Start over and get excited for an incredible fall.
Write to Chelsea atcppicken@bsu.edu
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