A Special Week

    Appreciation of the ungraspable

    More stories from Royce Ingram

    Meaningful mistakes
    November 21, 2014

    This week is special. It is not just that I can now legally get a tattoo without parental consent, or that I exempted a few finals. It is that I spent two evenings this week having an amazing time.

    This blog is also special. Usually I have to spend some time searching my mind and memories for something in my life that I can use to demonstrate a benefit of getting involved with extracurriculars, but such was not the case with this blog. This blog’s topic popped right into my mind along with a relevant song.

    In “Blink,” by the band Revive, the chorus sings as “It happens in a blink, it happens in a flash, it happens in the time it took to look back. I try to hold on tight, but there is no stopping time. What is it I have done with my life?”

    And this week I have revived my extracurricular activities with the two first clubs I went to at this lovely highschool: I went to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Christmas party and volunteered through Student Council (StuCo) for the annual special needs prom.

    Riding home with a best friend I had met freshman year, I realized how fast it had all flashed by. Looking back, I can still remember the raw emotions of leading discussions while slapping mosquitoes or freezing my butt off outside. I remember setting up freshmen homecoming as a goofball and being responsible for the cafeteria’s decoration this year. It was just like yesterday, and some four years have sped by like 24 hours.

    Sometimes I get so busy, and I hear a voice saying, “I’m busy enough; I’m already receiving credit for these clubs on my college activities lists. Why should I still participate if I have other pressing things to do?” Yet, this week I actually took the time to partake in them, and it was immensely rewarding.

    Just to be with people who know me, and enjoy playing some cheesy Christmas game, was rewarding. It is like a niche of time and place; personal people in a distinct, welcome space; the peace of not being rats in a race; silly mistakes all covered in grace; I am not singled out in the struggles I face; our memories and lives are strongly interlaced; these friendships, our home, this time and place.

    Getting involved with my last high school special needs dance and FCA Christmas Party makes me so grateful to have gotten involved with these people. No matter how I try to hold on tight, there is no stopping time. All of us will eventually leave this time and place of shared involvement to pursue our own paths. When I wonder, “What have I done with my life in those irreplaceable high school years?” I know that I will have spent it well getting involved. Getting involved has required getting up for meetings way too early and working much longer than anyone would imagine doing, but it has been worth it. The memories and growth as an intellectual, a student, an athlete, a friend, a brother, a teacher, and a leader have been worth much more than their value in time and effort.