This I believe

What I find most college students like is to always be together with their friends, or to be social. That way they never feel lonely. And when facing troubles, there are always someone they can turn to for help, which makes them feel safe. I really don't need to list any more about why we want to be social as reasons are obvious. We all know that. But what I belive is solitude. NOT isolation with the society, but for a week or a day, I like to have some hours staying alone.Because in order to be with others, there is always some limitation: you are not totally free.

I don't want to offend my math prof., in fact I love his style of teaching, but I have to say that everytime, I can only understand those concepts or thoeries until I finish reading the textbook myself. There is so limited time in class that I swallow the delicious rather than taste them slowly. I even doubt the necessity of the lecture. What can a student learn when he's just rushing writing new concepts without stopping and taking a look at it? I enjoy reading the textbook by myself. No rush at all. I can have a piece of paper and a pencil. When deliberating over a question in the textbook, I draw or scratch messly on the paper which helps with my thinking. I can spend a whole afternoon like this until I see a concept crystal clear. Trust me, group discussion might give one some clues or ideas, but in the end, to truly reach the point of understanding, he has to sit alone thinking the problem through. After all, what prof. or anyone in the group said is what they understand, not me.

No matter you've noticed it or not, being together with others sacrifices some parts of a person. If he wants to be social, he has to compromise to the popular way of doing things or believes. Vincent van Gogh had a very different perspective of the world. He could give up his uniqueness and join the majority. But it was the uniqueness that led to his greatness. As often sited, 'The truth is in the hands of the few'. Great minds often went through solitude. If they compromise, it is the lost of the world.


Feel no fear of solitude. Embrace it. It's just a necessary part in your life as an individual.