(Submitted by Hailee Barnes)

I slipped in 45 minutes into my Brain and Behavior class today. I took notes for the remaining 45 minutes, but my mind was racing so fast about other things as it had for the past 28 hours that today’s note taking was not my best let’s say. I had awoke at 5am in Louisville, KY, taken a cab to the airport, boarded my plane, did homework, changed planes in Minneapolis, read some stimulating textbooks, then deplaned, met my chaplain, raced to class and there I was in Portland, OR at 12:15pm West Coast time sitting in my seat trying to absorb the inner workings of the brain. I had spent the weekend with the Leadership Event Planning Team in our face-to-face meeting.

I should be exhausted now at 12 midnight West Coast time, but with the excitement of the weekend, coffee on the plane, and going to the gym a few hours ago my mind will not allow me to sleep. Most of the time I wonder why I am in college studying hour after hour never really seeming to master anything or being able to claim that I really know anything beyond regurgitating what I hear and maybe adding a little flare to it but I can say that the class part of college is not exactly what thrills me to death. My friend Stacy and I often refer to the “Stacy Scale of Life” when we are discussing our classes, stress, or whatever we are doing. It is a little scale she and I discussed and greatly agreed on over our spring break last year while we spent long nights house sitting and long days rowing on the crew team. It is about the relationships you make, nurture and have with people. While we are both dedicated students and do feel that classes are important, it is something we both think about very often and often factor into the decisions we make. It is so easy to get caught up in all that we have to do and forget that opportunities for relationships are often more important. For example, I could not believe that I went all the way to Kentucky this weekend with tests in all my classes two term papers and a major project due between now and next Wednesday. But by going to KY this weekend I was able to grow stronger in my relationships with the three members of the LEPT that I already knew and met and began getting to know the other two members. I greatly value these relationships and it is these relationships and others similar to them in my family, my community, my school, and throughout my life that make life beautiful and meaningful for me.

One of my life goals is to grow in my relationships with people, some will dwindle no doubt, but those that I put time, effort, love, and care into can be some of the most valuable things in life. People are interesting; they all have a story, a history, and their whole life’s worth of experiences. So here is to all our relationships with people we have known, know, and will know. Have a great Thanksgiving, remember to give thanks for all the great relationships that you have!

Hailee Barnes
Lewis and Clark College (Portland, OR)
NNPCW Coordinating Committee (class of 2009)