People

This is the broadest subject I could possibly write about. I’m not going to attempt to do it justice. Instead, I’m going to reflect on a very special night.

This night wasn’t particularly memorable. Nothing spectacular happened. But it involved a lot of people, which is what made it special. Not any more special than countless other nights involving lots of people, but special nonetheless.

It started after a week of near-isolation. I decided to go back home for spring break and catch up on some projects I’d been meaning to tackle. Sure, I spent some quality time with some awesome people. But not much. The week was mostly spent hunched over a glowing computer monitor.

Then I came back to campus. Shortly after, I got dinner with some good friends. We chatted, we had a great time, and two of us came up with a hilarious new idea. It was an awesome time.

After dinner, we went to my room to work on our idea. What was the idea? Doesn’t matter. We laughed, we learned, and we had a good time. Another friend joined in on the fun. It was awesome.

Then I got a call from someone I’ve recently become very close with. She invited me to hang out with a bunch of her friends. Another good friend of mine grabbed the phone and echoed the sentiment that I should join them. They’re both awesome people.

So I went out with them later that night. I finally got to see one of my best friends after he had been gone for three months. That was awesome. I had a deeply personal conversation with another friend about some issues I was finally starting to overcome. That was awesome.

I ran into two good friends of the guy that lives down the hall from me. I don’t know either of them very well, but we had no problem carrying on multiple conversations. They’re both awesome.

I ran into someone I used to intern with. We caught up and shared future plans. He’s pretty awesome.

I met someone new. Someone who told funny jokes and had what sounds like an exciting future ahead of him. Although we didn’t meet under the best circumstances (don’t ask), it was still an awesome part of my night.

After all this was over, I came back to my house to find a half dozen people that I usually see all the time but hadn’t seen in a week. It was awesome.

If you’ve made it this far, you just read the worst story in the world. There were no descriptions. There were no details. There were no names. Everything was intentionally vague. But it doesn’t matter. All that matters are the different groups of people I connected with tonight, as anonymous as they may be.

As I went to bed that night, a thought that had been inside my head for years grew stronger than ever: people are fucking awesome.

Watch the news, and people suck. Go on the internet, and people suck. Read a magazine, and people suck. People get a bad rap in non-personal media. We love to watch all the bad things that people do. That’s what sells.

But go out and have meaningful interactions with people, and people are awesome.

People are the reason I’m happy. People have gotten me to where I am today. People are the reason I am who I am. I’ve never done anything meaningful on my own. Everything I do, I do alongside awesome people.

People are worth spending time with. People are worth sharing moments with, even if those moments are the most mundane thing in the world. People are worth making sacrifices for. People are worth wasting time with.

People are fucking awesome.