Experiences Don’t End

Yesterday, I met someone at a party who, as it turned out, was in my year during undergrad. Same college. Same classes. Same exams. “Oh, but you must have never studied at the library then,” she said. “Actually, I was in the library all the time, often from 7 AM to 10 PM,” I responded. “Ahh, that’s why—I always went at night!”

“How amazing,” I thought. “14 years later, and I can still run into new people from this experience whom I’ve never met before.” I believe it goes to show: Experiences don’t end. We just stop pulling on certain threads. I graduated from that college in 2014, but I’m in touch with some of the people from back then to this day. And if I wanted to, I could start hitting up every connection from back then that I can remember or find online. I could join an alumni group or start one. In other words, I could keep playing the “Karlsruhe Institute of Technology student” experience until the day I die in some way or other. Most of the time, I just choose not to.

You don’t have to think about the infinite nature of experiences all the time. But on occasion, it can be an encouraging reminder: You can pick up where you left off any day. You won’t get the same result as if you’d kept pulling on those threads way back when, but you’ll still get some continuation of a phase of life you’ve enjoyed—and, made with the right timing, that can be worth just as much, if not more, as a new experience altogether.