Why did the girl throw the clock out the window? To see time fly!

I bet you’ve heard that one before. For some reason, the joke is a classic-no matter how many times you share it, it never gets old.

When I was younger, I would laugh at the joke and brush it aside as a simple joke. Now, however, I feel an analysis of the joke is more necessary. Can time really fly? (I don’t mean literally, of course, but figuratively.)

In the four months since school has started, it seems as though the world has changed. We have been through the best welcome week, fear of new classes, dread about unknown professors, excitement of meeting new people, apprehension before that first test, lack of sleep during midterms, relaxation during fall and Thanksgiving break and now the impending stress of finals.

Now think about four years. Where were you four years ago? I know where I was. I was just starting high school, wondering if I was “cool,” if I was wearing the right outfit to fit in.

These were clearly very petty worries. Today, I worry because I have absolute control over my future but have no idea what my future will actually entail.

Will I be who I want to be? What do I want to do with my life? Clearly, my worries have changed drastically over the past four years.

For some people around the world, there has been no such drastic change. Four years ago, some people were worrying about life: Will I live or die in the next moments? But that worry did not dissipate. Today they live in the same fear.

The war in Iraq began March 19, 2003-more than four years ago. The soldiers fighting in the war, some of whom are on their third or fourth tours, have the same worries as four years ago, one that becomes more stinging at this time of year: Will I be home for Christmas?

But what if the four years become six years or 10 years for these soldiers, living under the same fear for survival?

Not only is the amount of time taking a toll on the soldiers, but this long war is taking a toll on the American people.

When the war started, every piece of news about Iraq was important to everyone, and the world tuned in, but now it just seems like numbers, charts and statistics, forgetting that there are real people with families and friends wearing those uniforms.

We are still fighting because the Bush administration decided that it was necessary to rebuild Iraq, the primary reason for our stay in Iraq and the fear of an even longer stay. There is no real problem with rebuilding; the United States has done it before. But the predicament that is occurring in Iraq today is that the extent to which Iraq would be rebuilt was never defined.

What does rebuilding entail? How will we diminish the terrorism in the region? How will the United States presence continue to be perceived? These and many more crucial questions remain unanswered.

It is unfair for the soldiers who are putting their lives at stake to fight in an ambiguous war-one with no clear aims and no future directions.

Samiksha Tarun is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.