2012: Why Wofford?

I have come to love Wofford over the last four years. As a dreaded freshman, I came in scared and unsure if I would find friends and pass my classes. Now in the last week of my undergraduate career, I can’t help but to question how different my life would be at another school. Was me coming to Wofford fate? Why has Wofford been special? Would I have enjoyed another school just as much? If one event had changed in my life, would I have still ended up here? Some would say thinking about these questions is a waste of time because I can’t go back in time and test any of these scenarios. I have to argue that there are plenty of scientists who struggle to answer these kinds of questions all the time. Was the universe created for life? Have there been other universes that were just as successful as this one? If one event changed in the last 13.7 billion years, would life still be here? Whether it’s just with our choice of college or the construction of life, I believe it’s natural for us to question our past and wonder about how our present could be different

In my day to day life, I pack my time with work and play and hardly take time to consider where I have come from and where I am going. I could rewind 13.7 billion years ago and picture myself as one of those first atoms flaring forth into nothing forever perpetuating time and space. We could channel our inner Darwin and discuss how Homo sapiens evolved from earlier mammals or how the bones of our appendages match those of the ancient Acanthostega from 380 million years ago. Or, I could think more individually and consider how my parents, my friends, and where I have lived have all attributed to the person I am today. Maybe it would be best to consider my place in society or how I have contributed to our economic standing as a country. It is interesting to think about how different I could be if any of these characteristics were to change. It’s difficult for me to believe that everything in the past 13.7 billion years has occurred so that I could be sitting here typing this blog on my Dell computer. Maybe I don’t fully understand the uniqueness of our ability to think about life and the universe. I challenge you future readers to consider what has made you the individual you are today and how 2062 could be different.