The powerful opportunity found at Cambridge University is also the most pernicious weapon levied against the soul.

When students arrive, they find themselves in awe and often respond by attempting to frame their own life and achievements in the best possible manner. But it is a dangerous mistake to overextend the crust.

Now, just over one week into the academic schedule, some students are filling the void with titles and responsibilities, solidifying their confidence, adequacy, and perhaps even superiority even as they only begin to realize the full weight of their academic responsibilities. Foam and sponge fill cavities quickly, but can they stand fast in the full forces of life?

A strange base of outward confidence fills up the attitudes of students who have only been here a short while. A little more experienced, I see the fragility of their nascent thought, just as no doubt others see in me. But while I count self-doubt essential to reach the positive outcomes of an inner dialectic, I am uneasy about its marked absence in many others. Perhaps this is the curse of discussion and thought: Since I come from an environment where intellectual conversation is scarce, I hash things out inside. For these, who are rich with opportunity for discourse, the clash of strong assertion squeezes out the truth. Yet I would not have it squeezed upon the ground merely because the juicer cannot drink.

For the moment, I am playing it safe. I have turned down one very tempting/prestigious opportunity, and am avoiding others.

But while I don't carry the same uncertain confidence as those freshers who marvel at being here (how odd that I should find it natural, comfortable, and enjoyable), the unceasing voice of avarice whsipers gently, "what if?"