As a new semester begins, students arrive on campus with no academic burdens weighing them down. They approach the year excited at the prospect of the time before classwork and extracurricular activities cause them to self-isolate in the library anytime they aren’t in class or sleeping. For some, it lasts until midterms.
For others, it ended after the first day of classes. I spoke with one of my friends about this period of no responsibilities, and she said it reminded her of a term she discussed in a class once, what she called a “golden era.” The term is familiar to those who have seen the 2011 film starring Owen Wilson titled “Midnight In Paris.
” In the movie, the characters travel further and further back in time throughout Parisian history. A common theme occurs when they meet the people of this new period, the current inhabitants of that time long for their golden era. Not the time they were currently in, which was the golden age of the folks that time traveled there, but the era that came before it.
While college students are not traveling back in time, they will soon long for that brief time when they could meet up with their friends on Edward’s Parade during the day, nap or just have an evening to themselves with no worries of homework or tasks to accomplish. It goes even further than just this month. People yearn for the golden era of their youth.
It’s a common refrain when I say that I am currently in college that the other person sighs and says somet.