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Every Thursday night if you want to find any of us we will be at the Pennant or the Beachcomber. Because every Thursday night that is where USD students go, they accept real IDs or fake IDs. As much as it is a tradition at my school, the monotony of it, seems all too comfortable for such a big city. It takes walking a different sidewalk or taking a different exit to realize that life does exist outside of this “college bubble”.

Every college weekday is considered a weekend, especially senior second semester. A day might look like this for a college student. Wake up at around 9 am, roll over and take three advil to cure the hangover from Taco Tuesday and hit the snooze button three more times. Rush to class, hope that there is not a quiz that day and make up the forgotten homework in the back of library. Then comes the mid-afternoon nap, a cocktail to rinse away your hangover and replenish your buzz. It is a continuous cycle, with so many wild stories that they all blend together. Not because they are all similar but because they occur in the same place and in the same order with the same people. It seems that with this cycle we oftentimes forget to walk on our own.

Today I took steps in some different directions, which all lead me to the right direction. It gave me the direction to find clarity and peace of mind. Instead of rushing into the coffee shop down the street, throwing the change on the table, grabbing my coffee, and hustling to class. Today with my open morning I decided to take my breakfast to the café, order a latte, and read my book in the sun for a couple of hours. Amongst the new mothers, mission beach veterans, newly wed couples, and vacationers, smiles were many along these sidewalks. I went cafe hopping for the rest of the day, to various cafes in various neighborhoods, stopping in boutiques and record stores along the way. I wrote. I talked to strangers. I took random photos. I walked on my own.