Top 5 Regrets: These Things Happened

Most of our contributors were very uneasy with this “Sound Off!” Topic…many said, ”I’ve been taught there are no regrets in life that everything happens for a reason.” So when they came forward with their regrets – we KNEW they had to be interesting! Here’s the first round of our contributors Top 5 Regrets in Life!

I Have Yet to Find My Passion
Meggie Hulsey

I always envied those kids that always knew what they wanted to be since day one of their lives. How the hell does a fetus know that he or she wants to be a chemical engineer or a computer analyst?!? When I first went to college I dabbled in various majors, from Theatre to Business, and finally decided on Communication Studies. (The meaning may be slightly ambiguous, but I knew that it would lead me somewhere.) My parents always wanted me to a teacher or a doctor like themselves – but I wanted to go my on way. I do not think the regular 9-to-5 job is for me; I could never sit in an office and pretend to like it. Where’s the freedom? Where’s the adventure? I understand that I might be lofty with my aspirations, but at least I dare to dream big. I think that a quote from the great Jimmy Buffett will sum up my thoughts perfectly.

“The life they were so hell-bent on preparing me for bored the living shit out of me. It seemed way too serious. I saw more meaning in the mysteries of the ocean and the planets than theology or religion. I was too busy figuring out ways to skip school, go diving and get laid. My heroes were not presidents; they were pirates.”  – A Pirate Looks at Fifty

I Hope I Don’t Regret Going to College
Danielle Shuey

Hmm…Allow me to explain.

So I recently graduated from college and can’t find a “real” job and blah blah blah…I’m pretty sure you know the drill. Well the student loan INDUSTRY isn’t exactly sensitive to the current economic situation now is it? I come from a middle-class family, I have worked at least a part-time job since I was 15 (except for my freshman year), I had $7750 annually in merit-based scholarships… and I’m in more debt than I like to think about. In 10 years, it’ll be paid off, sure… but what am I going to do for the next 10  years? I’ll tell you what I’d like to do: move to a country in Central or South America working with at-risk youth or victims of domestic violence. Do the same in underprivileged urban areas in the United States. Travel a little while I (should) have the flexibility to do so. Lobby for these issues that get me so fired up. Actually utilize the degree that the current system of loan repayment is preventing me from pursuing with full force.

Since I will make little-to-no money doing what I want to do, I guess for now I’ll just keep slinging sushi at a restaurant so that I can afford my monthly payments…sweet.

Don’t get me wrong…I believe college is a necessary stage in intellectual and character development (not to mention a hell of a good time!) but sometimes I wonder…if only I hadn’t gone to college…

Tanning Beds
Jenna Wessinger

I know, I know.  They are bad for you.  But so is Diet Coke, my friends (which I don’t drink). This is something that I can’t give up. A good 12-minute “relax session” in a tanning bed after a tough day is just incredibly underrated!

Play some soft rock, and I’m out for the count.

I have naturally fair skin so I definitely don’t abuse the bulbs. I go, at most, every other day and always use lotions.

Do I run the risk of skin cancer later in life? Totally. Have I read all of the recent studies concerning the harmful effects? Indubitably.

Will I stop? Not in the near future. Will I regret it? Absolutely.

Attempt to Change the American Educational System
Jodi Toll

There are so many disparities in the system, and I do not see enough people taking the right actions to change it. There is so much to be done that it sometimes overwhelms me. I know I would need to start small, but I do believe it can be done. The world has changed and so must our systems. There is a big difference between identifying the problem and coming up with the solution. I am currently in the “Identifying” stage, but when I am 50, I hope to be a solution provider.

Engaging in More Enriching Activities
Paul Eulette

I’d never EVER change going to the parties, the bars, the clubs and the things I don’t remember in my life…because they define being young. However – what are we going to tell our kids or future employers what we did with our lives?

Party till our liver divorced us?

What about the things that are created by other humans that we are missing? The exhibits of antebellum America, Ecosystems of river deltas, French architecture, Russian ballets, Broadway plays, enriching traveling – all this over waste-faced weekends in Cabo? Which is more fulfilling and memorable in the future?

Shortly put, I think I’ll regret not having a good balance between being faded and being enriched – beyond school.