I go, Ichi-go You go
November 10th, 2025
Photo: Natalia Pinto
Writer: Alana Frank
Editor: Anne Marie Martinez
Two boys throw a football. Hurried students in suits walk by on the phone with papers bustling out of folders. A group of friends laugh as they sip on lemonade and snack on a charcuterie board sprawled on their picnic blanket. A dog barks at a squirrel running up a nearby tree. It’s 70 degrees with a slight breeze. The sun starts to sit low atop the University of Michigan Law Library. It’s a picturesque moment and a quintessential image of the college experience. I take a deep breath and look around, thinking about all of the seemingly insignificant details that compose this moment. All the things I am experiencing will never happen in the exact same way ever again. It’s scary, but also exciting?
In Japan, there is an old proverb that reads Ichi-go Ichi-e. These 4 characters translate to “one time, one meeting,” which is the idea of treasuring a moment in time because it will never recur in the same way ever again. As cringey as it might sound, there’s a reason you are in a moment even if you are not present within it. When you take a shower in the morning, you think about what you will have for breakfast, not the feeling of the warm water on your skin.
It’s no secret that our college years go by in the blink of an eye. It’s easy for students to get swept up in a whirlwind of activities. And at an institution like U of M–where academic excellence and ambitious extracurricular involvement are the norm, it is no surprise that students are more focused on what lies ahead than what surrounds them in the present. It’s ironic that one of the most exciting and anticipated periods in a person’s life is one that people most commonly take for granted.
I remember coming to school, my family all wrote me cards as my 18th birthday happened to line up with my move-in date. While my birthday wishes were the main focus of the messages, I was also told that college is the time to really slow down and appreciate where you are because it goes by so fast. If you were to tell me that I am more than halfway through my sophomore year of college, I would think you're lying. While I know I have been appreciative of my time at U of M and where I am in my life, there’s a small feeling of regret and melancholy in my stomach for all the times I didn’t cherish my “one time, one meeting” moments in life. And so, I challenge you to change your mindset just like I am determined to change mine.
Take that deep breath and really look around you. Stop focusing on the immediate next thing and let the stillness settle in. Ground your heart and mind where your feet are for a while and just exist. There is so much beauty in just lingering. Be grateful with where you are and appreciate the moment in its totality. The good, the bad, the ugly, you name it.
