One of the negative aspects of modernity — and something we as NYU Abu Dhabi students often fall prey to — is the temptation to start doing things not because we want to, but because of what we can get from them. With less personal fulfilment coming from religious, communal or introspective sources, we start seeing our present happiness only as it relates to future successes, professional advancements and the way others see us. Internships are only as interesting as the job opportunities they represent, books only as good as the conversation pieces they can become and travels now have capital only in the likes and shares of digital albums. At some point the lines blurred, and now I can no longer tell if I like non-fiction because I actually enjoy it or because my brain has trained itself to only enjoy media that will make me feel smarter.

In a time full of new beginnings — whether incarnated in freshmen embarking on new college careers, students enrolling in classes in foreign GNU lands or in our new Saadiyat campus — the best we can do is take a step back. Take a step back from career fairs, New Yorker articles and museums and see them for what they are: opportunities to enrich our lives, not stepping stones in an endless road. To steal an overused but always relevant metaphor: play another octave of the piano. But don’t play it for the applause, do it for the joy in unheard music.