A Term of New Beginnings

By: Michael Rivera

I was awoken this morning to a soft knock by my roommate, telling me that it was about time for us to get ready for school. I mumbled something as I began to slip back into my hard slumber, when five minutes later my alarm clock blasted the Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa "Young, Wild and Free" in my ear. Looks like today was not my day to sleep in. My usual routine starts with smoking a cigarette with my cup of coffee, so as I reach over for my pack, I find that they are not there. I shoot up from bed in a panic, my heart-pounding, blood boiling of why my damn cigarettes aren't on my night stand. Then, I start to realize: I quit smoking.

I am a ridiculously addicted cigarette smoker. I'm the pack-a-day, stressed college writer who thinks about cancer sticks like sex: an absolute necessity. I've been around cigarettes my entire life. In my family, it was just the thing to do. Well, I want to change that. It has been two days since I've had a cigarette and let me tell you what: I think about them more and more. I've never been a cold-turkey quitter, but just the thought of smoking right now doesn't sound appealing; it sounds like I need my fix. So This is why I will try my hardest to quit this horrible vice of mine.

It's funny how the Daily Grind will continuously come back to the fact that we have choices to make; we either do or don't. This is not a topic up for debate because the doers are out there shaping the world as the latter live in it. But before we can go out and change the world around us, we have to have some sort of personal change. Why? The experience speaks more than the notion of doing. I could sit here and write to you about the what my life would be like if I did this or that. You might be interested, but we only have so much time for the hypothetical.

Anyway, I thought to myself this morning: what do I want to do this term that will change my life? What is significant that I can do that will be good for me? What will be good for me to write about (not just what my reader finds interesting) that will help me become better? Well I had a few thoughts that I think would be great.

As now that you know my struggle and need for change, the writer turns to the audience and points the curious question that only you can answer. What will you do to change this term? This is the start of the movement that will not stop, because as much as we'd like to, the world keeps going even if we don't. How are you gonna change the direction?