The Route Less Traveled
By Simon Balmuth
As we bask in the aftermath of an epic Tuesday night, the sun starts to rise bringing calm to the madness signaling the start of a new day. It is at this unlikely hour that I sit down with Adam Green a first year humanities student.
Adam has a sense of quiet calmness about him; even in the most challenging situations he appears to have all the time in the world. But what or who can he thank for this attribute?, it is a possession born out of maturity., but then again this is his second year out of school, and as he will admit it was the gap between school and university that enabled him to gain that maturity. It is this inherent maturity that has enabled him to take University in his stride. “The year I took out from studying allowed me to grow immensely as a person; I would encourage everyone if it was possible to take a gap year”.
Perching nonchalantly on my windowsill Adam pulls out a box of cigarettes, and lights up. He offers me a smoke; I decline as the smoke begins to rise merging with the golden haze of dawn. He drags deeply with a guilty smile etched on his face, taking comfort from the private indulgence that the nicotine supplies.
As the sun climbs higher in the sky our conversation picks up pace and purpose. Adam has met the challenges of varsity life with apparent ease, unruffled and unphased. But is there any element of distress that lurks behind this untouchable veneer. “University took a while to get used to; the lifestyle that comes with being a Rhodes student is extremely different to living at home”. As with most students Adam took a while to adjust to the alien environment, but as the year begins to grind to a halt, he seems so settled both in himself and here at Rhodes. He is a brilliant advert for a controversial product, the gap year.
Where does Adam see himself in ten years from now? where in his mind does the journey end?. “I have always wanted to be involved in the analysis of our environment, One day I hope to become an environmentalist”. It is no surprise that Adam’s heart strays away from the choking formalities of the corporate sphere; the daily formalities would crush the passion that drives him, the yearning to make a difference in this world. His path is not a well trodden one it is a diversion from the main stream, a slowly winding dirt track to some far off location. But it is with purpose that he treads this rough track and I have no doubt that his journey will be successful.
The sun is now high in the sky and the room is shrouded in a warm amber glow. Adam maintains his perch on the windowsill looking out at the world below. A world which bears limitless opportunities to the driven and hidden pitfalls for the lost. As we say goodbye a new day has begun, a day like no other, just another step in Adam’s journey
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1 comment:
This interview was extremely easy to read, as your writing simply flows from the page into your mind with no hesitation. Your writing style is highly refined with complex descriptions such as the distress that “lurks behind this untouchable veneer.” A phrase like this is not an easy one to write, but perhaps for Adams sake (a first year student who probably gets plastered every other night) you might do well to incorporate a less formal tone at parts. A wonderfully descriptive picture is painted of this young man, but the text seems to hide someone who’s actually less theoretical than perceived and is slightly more than someone suffering from the “choking formalities of the corporate sphere.” Adam is defined by this consortium of poetic metaphoric links, but no real analysis of his true character is displayed. Does he like rugby? Or is he afraid of physical contact sports and rather watched the game with his mated and a can of beer in his hand. These are questions that, along with your writing, would paint a beautiful profile. He is a university student and deserves a slight blithe air to be incorporated into his profile. As Eileen Caddy (a Scottish Writer) once said, “Live and work but do not forget to play, to have fun in life and really enjoy it.” He doesn’t come across as a happy person, when this is the fundamental quality of living. I enjoyed reading this entry; there is incredible text within it, but I would just like to come out of it smiling a bit more.
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