BY MICHAEL KORN
As students in our late teens and early twenties, we face a multitude of daily challenges. Some of these challenges are self-imposed, like taking a graduate seminar as a freshman or choosing to join a new student group or sports team. On the other hand, other things that challenge us are out of our control, like exams and laundry. I take pleasure in necessities like eating, sleeping and socializing. However, I am a Hopkins student, and I will always find a way to challenge myself, to propel myself to betterment, especially in the activities in which I find joy.
There are always obstacles in a challenge. If you are a musician or writer you may get stuck in a trench that buries your creativity. You may have learned by now that the only way out of the hole is to dig yourself out. An artist has the gift of constantly being able to be reborn in his creativity. Remember that the goal is worth it. The only reasons you put up with the pain is for the trophy or to know that you can handle the beating. Life gets tough, and it is entirely worth it to be prepared.
When you venture into the workforce, you will work long hours and commute for weeks out of the year. There will be obstacles. You will attempt to climb them. You will think back to Thomas the Tank Engine and know you can surmount just about anything.
And maybe you fail.
And if I do fail, then I can always look back at what may be my greatest accomplishment ever. Actually, I am certain it is. A team of highly-qualified Hopkins pre-meds and doctors advised against it, citing public and private health concerns. Though I hear their advice, I will not heed it this time. This one is for the greater good.
It may seem crazy. Parts of it are. The challenge is to order every menu item at UniMini. From the pepper steak (10/10) to the veggie patty hoagie (?/10) and the breakfast platter (6/10). I will turn all those question marks into numbers, even if it literally kills me.
“But why?” you may ask. Why in the world would you order a veggie patty hoagie at 2 a.m. on a Sunday? You would have to be masochistic. I would call myself an adventurer. Do not be mistaken — I will accomplish this goal in order to achieve my dream. It was on the Monday of Orientation Week in 2013 when I woke up in a cold sweat. On my night stand next to my bed was the fallen leftovers from a shawarma (with yogurt of course). To this day, I still do not know whether it was a dream or a nightmare...
It was the middle of the night and I was standing alone at the center of Homewood Field. The stadium lights were on. I remember I was squinting when I saw a six-foot-long hoagie rolling toward me. With a magical force, it began to hover. We held eye contact for a few seconds and it introduced itself to me, ‘I am the seafood salad hoagie of legend and lore. You are the chosen one.’
It took me until my third year to learn what this meant. It is my time to do something incredible. I will see you on the other side.
If I don’t make it, tell my family I did it for love and glory.
Michael Korn is a junior mathematics major from Aventura, Fla.
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