Nicole+P’s+OpEd+Article

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Last night, I was “brainstorming” ideas for what topic I should write about, I found myself scanning the pages of Facebook. I had already responded to whatever notifications there originally were on the top of the page, and had begun looking for something else to do. I viewed the roll of news feed and enjoyed myself by laughing at posts or the ridiculously strange groups that my facebook friends had recently become fans of. Interesting stuff….I recently became a fan of the group: “I’m not trying to impress you…..but I’m Batman.” It made my day…After joining this monumentally life changing group, I then ventured on to viewing pages and pages of friends’ profiles. I don’t know why I continuously waste my time viewing countless numbers of profiles, because whatever profile is not much different from when I viewed it the day before, or five minutes earlier. It’s all the same. And so I continue on my journey until finally I get a little bored and realize I have just wasted nearly an hour of my time doing absolutely nothing useful. What a productive day (nearly every day of my life). I finally decided to no longer waste my time and signed off of facebook with the status: “Editorial…editorial…editorial…squirrel!” (Imagine a sudden intensity on the word squirrel.)======

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The rest of my night was no more productive than that hour when I was signed on to facebook. As I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep, I continued to think about what the hell I was going to write about. And just as before, my mind began to drift away to very non-school related topics……I then came to the realization that (at times) I am very easily distracted. I then thought of the movie Up, and squirrels. And this ladies and gentlemen, is where my inspiration for this article derives from: Up. For some peculiar reason, the talking dogs in this animated movie are very distracted by the presence or mention of squirrels. Whenever they get whiff of a squirrel they become very alert: their eyes widen, their doggy ears are perked, and they excitingly exclaim, “Squirrel!” (Again, intensity on the word squirrel). After two or three seconds, the excitement of the invisible squirrel passes by without another word. It is amusing.======

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I have a wandering mind…It travels to unknown areas of unknown topics. It scales the mountain of “Huh…” - leaps off the cliff of “Hmm…” - into the abyss of “What…?” Because by the time my mind takes that leap, I have no remembrance of what I was thinking at that moment or how I even got there. In the middle of lecture, an idea will magically find its way into my head, and expand itself, until the voices in my head really don’t make sense anymore. If you have ever been with me in one of my classes, I don’t say much; in fact, people tend to forget we even have the class together. The main reason why I fail to interact with my fellow peers is not because I am idiotic or don’t have an opinion on anything: it’s usually because my mind has taken a shuttle to the opposite side of the universe where it cannot be retrieved. That, plus I generally have more of a reserved type of character. (In class, at least.)======

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But hey, it’s not my fault that the world offers me a “bajillion” different topics to ponder about. Facebook distracts me, my ipod distracts me, people distract me, television distracts me, the color yellow distracts me. I think it is safe to say that everything has the ability to distract my attention – even if just for a split second. Even in my high school environment where it seems that graduation, the future, and the damned College Board is upon everybody’s minds, mine still wanders. I suppose it is a “good thing,” almost an outlet: thinking about weird, amusing, spontaneous subjects eases my mind from the stress and work that normally surround me. No homework, no AP Tests, no SAT. No worry, no anxiety, no pressure. My wandering mind relieves me and relaxes me to the point where life is still enjoyable.======