To me, “Ambition Can’t Wait” means a lot of things. It means finding a pair of my underwear floating in a mini lake in the Towers Hall laundry room. It means sleeping in the hollowed-out bookshelves of the Hagerty Library. It means biting into raw chicken from the Hans. It’s the combination of misery and life hacks that brings us together as students. This ironclad idea has stayed with me and other freshmen for the rest of these passing quarters.
When I saw a classmate put Netflix on full screen so a fellow Dragon could also watch Grey’s Anatomy during an English lecture, I felt the ambition. And it clearly did not wait. In this moment, I realized … it’s not just a marketing ploy, it’s a lifestyle.
Then I heard it. The memory is still so fresh in my mind. So clear. So crisp. One moment sent my world crashing down.
The place: Main building. The time: high noon. The weather: a classic mid-fall day, a light breeze blowing through. After showing off a project for Foundations of Business, a student stood proudly and said, “Ambition Can’t Wait.” And there it was. Literal ambition. Lack of waiting. Just like the advertisers wanted.
It felt like the whole building had turned to ice. To hear it used to praise something besides stealing shirts from welcome week events or matching with a TA on tinder was a new kind of shock. I stood there, waiting with baited breath for one of them to turn and say “amirite?!” or for Ashton Kutcher and the Punk’d crew to jump out and admit to these shenanigans. When those moments passed, I realized the reality ahead of me.
I didn’t know how to handle myself afterward. Seeing the proud and hopeful face shine through the crowd, and hearing the lack of sarcasm echo around the lobby of Main, was something I don’t think I can shake. How could a fellow comrade in the shaft betray us like this? Does he not know the way of life? Does he not know that any and all sincere Drexel phrases must be used for anything categorically goofy or involving hooligan-like actions? Around these parts, the name of the game is not taking any Drexel advertisement to heart.
Philanthropist Anthony J. Drexel had a vision for his university. He wanted it to be a place for arts, sciences and most importantly, dreams. To see his vision openly tarnished by sincerity is a new low. We, as Dragons, must band together against the turning tides of this campus and navigate the waves of ambition.
To hear of an academic instance where ambition apparently couldn’t wait makes my skin crawl. It’s a dark day for Drexel students who have been ambitioning for all the right reasons.