“Humor is tragedy plus time” - Mark Twain

A large component of introductory psychology courses at my college required students to participate in experiments being conducted by other students, faculty, and staff. In fact, I recently found out that one of my freshman friends participated in my thesis experiment* (and I apologize from the bottom of my heart for the four hundred and twenty seemingly insipid trials -- you were contributing to the future of science!). I can offer her the consolation that I too participated in several studies as a freshman psychology student. Though I often complained about the length and required energy of what at the time were just assignments, I found them to be quite educational in that choosing an answer meant reflecting on my own disposition, personality, emotions, behaviors. My psyche.

In one specific survey, I responded that I found humor in the odd absurdities of life. And as I sit here in a room that has been completely stripped of any color, or quite frankly, signs of habitation, I can't help but chuckle about the odd absurdities I have encountered over the past four years.

Odd absurdities like the necessary awkwardness in any new friendship. There was a girl in a freshman dorm who, upon every encounter would simply stare at me (or me at her, depending on who you ask). Of all dorm residents, it was her with whom I would end up in an empty elevator all too often. She is now one of my closest friends from college. Another now-friendship started with a daily lunch consisting of him, myself, and several mutual friends. We never directly addressed one another. A two-year acquaintanceship followed before the friendship. (I know you're thinking it, so I'll say it: I am the weakest link...) It is almost entertaining, the way in which preconceived notions or even simple apathy direct our interactions with others, but more importantly, the way in which those others suddenly and unexpectedly become people you care about.

Odd absurdities like the warmness of high-fiving a stranger. I once decided to high-five every passer-by for seven blocks (sometimes I think that my life is a giant experiment in social psychology). Age, ethnicity, and gender were irrelevant. It brought smiles to serious faces. And entertainment for me.

Odd absurdities like the circulation of a survey on the natural gestation habits of the woodchuck. Odder absurdities like the seventy-seven people who took the survey just because someone suggested they should.

Odd absurdities like my freshman year roommate trying to have me switched for her high school friend the summer before we met. Odd absurdities like the fact that she was unsuccessful, that we shared a similar sense of sarcasm, that we owned a similar wardrobe. Odd absurdities like the fact that we became good friends and have lived together since.

Odd absurdities like the fact that four years ago feels like just yesterday and something which is supposed to be important and monumental at this point only feels sad.

I am a fan of humor -- dry wit, sarcasm, irony. Whether or not it be when I'm in high spirits, I often twist thoughts, emotions, and stories into a quip or joke. I will be the first to say that I don't know that this is a good thing, but it is my dealing mechanism. This is not making light of grave situations, but making difficult situations less difficult.

Two days ago, as my friend (the freshman year roommate) and I were standing in what was supposed to be a line of College graduates (but was really a pushing, shoving mass) we created a list of ten ways the situation could be worse. It could be raining. We could have had to walk farther. We could have been unqualified to graduate. The event could be unexpectedly canceled due to an alien invasion. Somewhere down the list, the pushing and shoving became manageable, and even preferable.

Life is a whirlwind and, as our University President said in her Commencement address, "nothing important is perfect." Every experience is sprinkled with a dash of odd absurdity, some imperfection, some unwanted tarnish. It is up to us twist it into something uplifting, something we can accept. It is the eternal dilemma between half empty and half full.

Though at points in your life it may feel like you have little control over a situation, realize that you always do. You have the power to transform "this is horrible" to "this could be worse" to "this couldn't get any better." You have the power (and my strong recommendation) to find humor in the odd absurdities of life. Bill Cosby once insisted, "If you can find humor in anything, even poverty, you can survive it." I'm a college graduate now, so I feel like I have some credibility -- I'd go further to say that you will not just survive it. You will conquer it.

*For those who are interested, I have included the abstract of my thesis below

Speech by Ears and Eyes: Can people adjust their interpretation of contextually-constrained visual speech cues?

Abstract: Human listeners interpret speech signals using speaker- or context-specific cues. Visual cues on a speaker's face play a major role in the perception of speech. This study examines people's interpretation of contextually constrained visual speech cues. A pen in the speaker's mouth interferes with the ability to adequately realize some of speech's articulatory gestures, especially the lip protrusion that distinguishes "sh" from "s." Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrate that people do not spontaneously adjust interpretations and expectations of mouth movements using a model of how lip movements would be impeded by a specific context (in this case, a pen in the speaker's mouth). Experiment 3 demonstrates that observers can learn to adjust their interpretations of limited lip movements after implicit training. Learning is not context-specific, but context-general. These findings emphasize the robustness and flexibility of human speech perception.