Let it Rain

If you attend college, you're likely not a fan of rain. Sure, it looks nice when the drops make patterns in puddles on the street and something soothes me about the sound of the steady drumming on the rooftops. However, it does not look so nice when the water starts creeping up my pant legs and nothing soothes me about the sound of wet, squeaking shoes moving through the hallway.

Fortunately, in our fantastic modern world exist these wonderful things called umbrellas. Dog may be man's best friend, but I truly believe an umbrella is a college student's best friend. A cuddly canine works for curling up in your home, but when you walk out of class at the far end of campus and rain begins to absolutely pour down you reach for an umbrella (and feel exceedingly glad you don't have to smell wet dog for the rest of the day).

An umbrella can become a student's best friend - but still it consists of just metal and polyester, and inevitably it will break. So if you walk out of your far-flung class into a cloudburst and your umbrella chooses that moment to fatally malfunction, how do you deal positively with the sudden and tragic loss of your best friend?

For one thing, you should embrace this opportunity to truly appreciate the rain - most people never have such a genuine chance to appreciate the weather. Those who have never broken an umbrella never know the feeling of rain on their skin; those who have never owned an umbrella, period, quickly grow used to (and possibly resentful of) the rain and lose the ability to appreciate it fully. As someone thrust into the rain this one time, knowing you can go buy a new umbrella soon and likely only have to make this sodden trek once, you inhabit the best position possible for appreciating this rejuvenating gift of Mother Nature.

Additionally, your lack of protection from the rain provides you with a top-rate excuse to have a little fun. You're going to arrive soaked at your destination anyway, so why not revert to your childhood and jump in a few puddles? Or if you pass a striking young gentleman or lovely lady, why not take a shot at that movie-scene (every girl's dream) kiss in the rain? At the very least, enjoy your exemption from societal pressures and expectations - no one expects you to look good after traveling such a long distance through a downpour, and in fact most people feel sympathy and pity for you as a victim of bad circumstances.

Finally, as you rush to get out of the rain you might uncover a Good Samaritan who offers to share his or her umbrella with you. Bad circumstances can bring out the best in people, so use this opportunity to uncover the truly kind people in your community.

Next time you find yourself up campus in a downpour without an umbrella, put on a smile, wave goodbye to your bad hair day worries, and remember: if it wasn’t for the rain, we could never appreciate the sunshine.

Kiki found in her broken umbrella a wonderful new pointer!