Wednesday Website Write-Up: Free Encouragement on Booooooom

Oldie but goodie. I have to admit that this project is one of my favourite ever things on Booooooom. Makes you feel better about the world, reading the sweet things people write about other people. Sometimes whimsical, sometimes hilarious, sometimes sad, sometimes too damn sappy but hopefully all sincere – just little observations and fleeting desires and tiny bursts of feeling that you kinda hope someone has about you every now and then. I wish that I owned a packet of the postcards they eventually made.









(And of course the famous)...



I personally could use some free encouragement right about now, so yeah, this post is pretty much totally self-serving. My last two finals are tomorrow morning and I find myself worrying excessively; not just about the damn finals but about this weird transition that we’re making, from freshmen to sophomores, 19 to 20 (the fuck?!). I guess in spite of my tough exterior I’m kind of scared. Scared that I didn’t get enough out of this year in college as I could have; scared that the real world is drawing ever closer and still no real idea what I want out of life; scared that I’ll come home and find it strange and different and not what I used to think. Reading Twelfth Night for English 142A isn’t helping; all those songs about “what’s to come is still unsure”, “youth’s a stuff will not endure”, etc. Damn you Feste!

I could write some of these to myself too, and they would go something like: "No, your genius professor didn't think you were an idiot when you asked him those questions today, and he didn't have to force a laugh when you tried to be funny with that lame joke" or "Fear not, that jacket totally went with that skirt" or "Keep on boycotting Facebook, it's OK to be stubborn about some things", etc.



But thank god for the encouragement of strangers. I like to believe that my fears are not unique to myself, that they are questions humanity has always struggled with and will struggle with 'til the end of time. Especially after their first year at college.