Today marks my final column of the year. It will be a whole season and a half before I can once again pen pointless details of my life and brighten the Thursday mornings of my readers. If I even have readers. Are there U.Va. readers who wait in breathless anticipation for my article to make its biweekly debut, who chuckle fondly at my clever jokes and appreciate my cynical prose? Though the prospect of a “Livin’ la Vida Lauren” Fan Club sounds promising, I’m fairly sure current readers of my article are either 1) skimming quickly on their way to the Sudoku or 2) my mother.
Anyway, today is my last column of the year, and I wanted to close with something a little bit more meaningful than my typical article. (Unfortunately this means you will have to wait until fall to find out which Crayola crayon color best describes my personality.) So I’m going to tell you a story about how I almost died.
During Easter weekend, my roommates and I decided to go camping down in South Carolina. We packed up our things and drove eight hours through to the Tyger River in the deep South. The campsite was only accessible by water, so we set two to a canoe and began drifting downstream. For a while, the river was calm and beautiful. I passed the time by singing Pocahontas’ “Just Around the River Bend” far too many times and watching for crocodiles.
We were a couple hours in when I noticed that we were drifting faster down the river, and that the current was getting choppy. When I looked ahead, I could see why: Two large trees had fallen into the river and lay suspended over the water’s surface by large boulders in the river. Hastily, my roommate and I grabbed our paddles and tried to row around the wreckage, but we weren’t quick enough. A branch caught the canoe by its edge and wedged the boat between the rocks. On my other side, water was spilling swiftly into the canoe. Before I knew it, we lost our balance and the boat tipped over.
I could take this time to tell you all about the remaining bit of my adventure, about how the current was so strong that it forced me downward under the canoe, about how my ankle became ensnared around a stick, about how my canoe-mate, who hadn’t gotten tossed into the rapids, screamed my name several times and got no response. I could tell you how, just before I somehow swam to the surface, my vision became clouded with black spots (apparently not a good sign), about how my last thought before I somehow got out of there was “I’m 19 and I’m going to die.”
But somehow I didn’t. And I shudder when I realize how close I came to the eternal alternative. Stop me if I’m being melodramatic — and there is a pretty high chance that I am, for this is my only near-death experience — but I resurfaced from that river realizing that life is short. No. Stop. Read it again: Life. Is. Short. You need to hear this. Today could be the last day of your life. But it could also be the first — the first day you actually start living. Use it wisely.
So that is the message I leave you with for the summer: Live your life. (Thank you Rihanna and T.I., for that song, which now never leaves my head — ever.) Be strong. Be happy. Get off FMyLife and Facebook and get into the world. Appreciate the fragrant, blooming flowers or the hot sun after days of rain. Reconsider your plan to quadruple-major; instead, take that Studio Art class you’ve been curious about. Remind your friends and family that you care and do this as often as possible.
Have a good summer, “Livin’ la Vida Lauren” fans. And thanks for reading. Now go crush that Sudoku. Maybe even conquer the word search.
If that’s what you want to do with your life, of course. :)
Lauren’s column runs biweekly Thursdays. She can be reached a l.kimmel@cavalierdaily.com.
Read More
It’s okay not to be okay
By Mai Hukuoka | 6 days agoWhether talking to a friend, a loved one or a professional, it is so necessary, and human, to need more than you can provide for yourself.
Taking a break at Tangerines Kitchen
By Charley Thomas | January 6, 2025What the restaurant somewhat lacks in ambiance, it compensates for in tasty dishes and prompt service.
Virginia Policy Lab — a hub for student-led policy action
By Katherine Haden | December 9, 2024Students propose their own projects and collaborate with other members to research their issues of interest, brainstorm solutions and write policy proposals.
