How to Live Before You Die

In June 2005, Steve Jobs, creator of Mac, Pixar, and Next shared Stanford's commencement speech. My favorite aspect about his speech was when he pointed out that you don't know have to know where you are going in life, and that you'll have to trust that things will all connect in the end. He was a college drop out and to kill time he would sit in calligraphy classes offered at his school. From those classes he learned about different fonts which eventually lead to him designing the different type faces in the Mac. He probably felt like such a failure when he dropped out but in the end it was for the better. "

"You can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backward [. . .] Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path."

These words assure me that it's okay if don't know what courses I'm going to take in junior year, or what job I will end up having after graduation. It encouraged me to just take in and focus on the things I am doing right now, even if I dread some parts of it.

Orange Line

Philly, home sweet Philly, is good for food and shopping. On my evening excursion to city of brotherly love, I found myself taking more pictures of the dingy yet endearing subway than the great landmarks such as LOVE park and buildings seen in National Treasure. I didn't notice that I was subconsciously shooting shots of the orange signs that directed us until I flipped through them later that night. Those orange rectangles with white letters hold so much character especially since it resides in a rusty metal underground jungle.

Then I got to thinking about the nature of subway stations. They aren't just checkpoints to get to a destination. They are homes for wandering pigeons, and the occasional homeless person. It is my connection from Temple Campus to center city. The orange signs embody my personal route to my city and without it, I would be hopelessly lost. So thank you, to the designers who chose the bright and almost obnoxious color so that it stands out to people with no sense of direction.