Strange things have been happening around here at night.

The sun sets, the wind whips up, and students shuffle down Locust, headed home for TV and schoolwork… But some Penn students have been staying out late.

A few have been sneaking out, waiting for the darkened nighttime streets for their fun to begin. And you’re thinking: Who are they? What are they doing? Where’s the party and why wasn’t I told? What do I wear? Can I please come, too???

Well, yes. Yes, of course you can. As long as you want to spend all night praying for your soul’s salvation, that is.

You’ve probably heard your Jewish friends grumbling about the classes they’re going to miss for the High Holidays. We’re just days away from the Jewish New Year, glimpsing apples, honey and challah bread, and asking classmates to take notes for us while we’re gone.

And a number of us have been making the trek out to Hillel for a nightly 10:45 p.m. penitential prayer service. And I love it.

There is something refreshing about having one foot in each world. It’s therapeutic, maintaining a rootedness amid the college years’ chaos. We go to classes and meetings, write papers, talk to professors and friends, party, party, party. And it’s a whirlwind. A life that often feels a lot like a never-ending, cyclonic rabbit hole for ages 18-22. And sometimes, you just need to come back down to earth.

But it’s not just Jews, with their nightly benedictions, who get a reminder of where they came from and a taste of the outside world. Right now, in fact, during the month of Ramadan, Muslim students are fasting from dawn till dusk, increasing daily prayers and joining together for nightly banquets.

There is something extremely fulfilling about leaving behind books and papers, frats and parties, coffee cups and energy bars and every other collegiate accoutrement for a moment of peace. A moment of personal meditation. A moment of authenticity.

And though I’ve only mentioned faith-based reflection, I maintain that anyone, religious or not, can partake in this freedom. Take a walk down by the Schuylkill. Go read to kids in the Mantua public library. Take a yoga class, and take it with a bunch of old ladies in downtown Philly. Remind yourselves of what it’s like outside our little Penn bubble.

Take a minute. Breathe. The air is different out there.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 at 12:32 pm and is filed under Higher Education, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.