On being (a hermit)

If you’re a person going to college, chances are you’ve spent a notable amount of time being a hermit.   

The Merriam-Webster definition of hermit is “one that retires from society and lives in solitude, especially for religious reasons.” 

“Retiring from society and living in solitude” is not really something we advertise for college. For example, when you tell people you’re a biology major, more than likely, the focus is more on “I’m excited to learn skills that will lead me to save people’s lives!'' rather than “I’m looking forward to spending multiple sleepless nights committing to memory the location and function of every part of the digestive system!” 

But the truth of it is, with almost anything worth doing, and doing well, there will be considerable time spent doing things that are not glamorous - writing a new draft of the paper, replaying and replaying that one tricky part of that piece, going into the gym outside of practice time to get your form just right.  

Often, the motivation for such grueling, sometimes mundane work is the result. But if there’s no joy in the work, the hermit time itself, then it's likely that you will be looking at an unrealistic end result. Naturally, our brains and (I don’t want to be that guy but) our current society have trained us to think that end results are quickly and simply attainable. Sometimes, it seems that the only life worth living is the kind that looks like pretty shiny end results, and not the work that produces those end results. 

Being a hermit is not a time wasting side quest on the life we want to live. Being a hermit is just part of life. And it is an important one. Spending time alone, either deeply focusing on a subject or making a point to think about nothing at all allows the space our brains really need to deeply consider the complex things that are going on around us all the time.  

College is about the hyper-social finding-a-table-in-Janzow-amongst-all-the-people-you-never-care-to-know stuff, and going to football games stuff, and staying up late and chatting with people you want to be friends with forever stuff, but it is also about occasionally locking yourself in a room and studying for that chem test, or taking a walk alone, because it's been a big week and you just need to not have new information for a little bit.  

So when you feel the need to hunker down in the quiet, cool, dusty, basement of the library (or wherever your hunkering down equivalent is), you’re not missing out. You’re just doing another necessary, important part of living.