The Idea of an Essay, Volume 3

74 The Idea of an Essay: Volume 3 The Final Peace Logan Hayes Logan Hayes (class of 2018) enjoys live music, bonfires, and spontaneity. Since writing this essay, he has changed his major from journalism to broadcasting and digital media. I was doing my absolute best to pay attention to my professor’s lecture in my digital logic design class – it’s even worse than it sounds, – but my mind was being rather stubborn. One part of me was trying to understand what in the world a tri-state buffer was, while the other was wondering why I was even in this class. I began questioning myself in the middle of class: why am I an engineering major? They make a lot of money, my dad is one, and I did well at math in high school. When I realized these were the best answers I had, I knew I was doing something wrong. The perfect plan I had laid out in my mind was shattering before me, and suddenly, my future was a mess of loose puzzle pieces. Something had to change, and that thought scared me. As I sat there, now nervous and defeated, I thought about that day six months ago that would mean more than I could ever have foreseen. Unbeknownst to me, the changing had already started. I stepped off of a bus into a city teeming with people like ants in an anthill, each person fixed on his or her destination. Three- wheeled tuk-tuks slalomed in and out of the crowd, clouding the air behind them with dust. Their high-pitched horns beeped incessantly. Women balanced baskets of fruit on their heads. Myriad street vendors lined the sidewalks selling freshly made food. The sights, sounds, and smells begged me to stop to take it all in. However, the only thing I had time to think about was keeping up with my group’s brisk pace. I was terrified of getting separated from them in the mass chaos. I blindly followed my group into a vast supermarket. Here, people were selling things of all sorts: food, jewelry, clothing, furniture, paintings, and wooden toys such as puzzles and spinning tops. Without explanation, my group leader