The Voice of Fatherly Conscience
I have had 3 mugs of coffee. Today, I woke up at 7:32 AM for my 8:00 AM Ethics presentation, after snoozing the first 4 alarms that screamed at me. Yesterday was draining. I had uni until very late and when I got to my dorm, I pulled an all-nighter to finish the last slides for this morning. Being a sophomore in college is hard. I haven't slept in a while (I’ll admit, some partying has been peppered in), and they say it gets worse when you choose your major. Architecture is one of my first choices, even though I know for a fact I wouldn’t get much sleep once I get in (erm, IF I get in).
Between classes, cooking, cleaning, and all the homework, I barely have time for details. My father drilled this advice in my head about how important details are. I try to apply it into every area of my life: whenever I have homework, I turn it in just minutes before the deadline because I like to give in perfect work; whenever I cook, I make sure I pack my lunch as neatly as possible; whenever I speak to a professor, I try to mention something about the class so they can see I was really paying attention during the lectures. “It's the details that matter”, in my father's voice, is on repeat in my conscience.
Also, to my detriment, I have to agree with my dad that there’s been a steady decline in my personal appearance. Fashion…now THAT is all about details. It had always been a big yes for me. Now, however, I just wear hoodies and yoga pants for my all of my classes…even to presentations. I could argue that I have no time to iron all of my soft-fabric suitable closet. And it would be true! I have meant to iron a beautiful dress I’ve had on my desk chair since forever! But I never get to it. I never have the time to go through all the routine that entails ironing instead of finishing one of the English, Physics, or any of my classes’ projects.
But this afternoon, I got to my room after an exhausting day at the uni and I found a package with a card inside that simply read: “From Dad…always take care of the details”. Inside, there was a sleek-looking spray bottle called “deCrease”. For some reason, I knew right off the bat what it was for (it helped that it said LIVE IRON FREE in big bold letters). I just looked at that gorgeous, crumpled summer dress that had been staring me for a while now as a little kid looks at its Christmas gift after opening it.
An effortless spray…that’s all it took and voilà! I had finished deCreasing my amazing summer dress in minutes. I was ready to look AMAZING for tomorrow’s presentation! The confidence I felt putting on that perfectly decreased dress gave me the extra confidence I needed to not only showcase my brain, but also look perfect doing it.
What do you know…Dad was right. Again.