The people around me

I've come to realize every so often that my groups are friends are so varied and diverse, as are my interests. Yet, when bodily functions break down, everyone ends up the same way- vulnerable.

My two usual busy days are Mondays and Thursdays, as those are the only days I have class. This Thursday, not only did I have 3 classes (2 regular, and 1 block that all the way downtown), I went downtown to the China Working group forum to hear some senators speak about US-China relations assuming it to be related to my research topic, then went all the way back to AU for my class, which I caught the last 5 minutes of. Then at noon, there was a Beijing reunion since the director of the study abroad was in town. I met up with my friend and classmate there, which upon that time, he fell over, hit the table, and convulsed into a seizure. With a mixture of late night studying, ciggerettes, lots of caffeine, lack of food for many hours, and most likely another ingredient, all mounted up to his first seizure that was longer than normal ones. While my friend and director kept watch over him as he foamed in the mouth and had blood coming out as well (from biting his tongue), I called 911 for the first time-and soon enough, the ambulance came.

15 minutes later, I had a drugs and behavior quiz, all to help digest what had happened. After, I went all the way to the other uni's library to prepare for my class, and for 2 hours, listened to my professor lecture about the diminishing NASA budget. My day didn't end yet; I went home to grab the takoyaki maker, walk to my Japanese friend's apartment for her bday party, not only help prepare the food, but also celebrated, and by midnight, called it a night. Talk about exhausting.

Within one day, there were many different groups of people I associate with- and it comes to a surprise for me sometimes that people are all linked to one thing- life. The seizure made my friend see his daily activities in a different light, as I saw how easily people's behaviors do have consequences. It all comes down to the fact we are indeed all human. No matter which country they come from, how rich they may be, or how healthy they may appear to be, our bodies may one day just decide to shut down and need that break. Whether it becomes death or terminal, a scare in our everyday lives do make us reconsider what is valuable to us- whether we have lived the fullest currently (and also consider health and not take nonprescribed drugs) or will our past actions still haunt us today and continue to do so in the future. In terms of health, I have heard how its best to take care of our bodies now, as it will catch up to us in the future. As for the rest, it is best to make amends now, and to not dwell on past mistakes- rather learn from them and move on with those experiences for the best in the future. Hopefully my friend has learned from his concoction of late night studying, and found ways to prevent something like that from happening again to his body.

As much as I care for all my friends and I know that is something I'd worry about since he is a friend of mine, it is not something I want to add onto my full plate.