You don't start to value patience until it becomes your friend. That is one new thing that I have grown to learn. It is actually kinda great how patience works. I have found once patience starts working for you, you start to like it more. Making, of course, you yourself start to enjoy being patient. Once you start enjoying being patient, situations that you might have in the past disliked because they involved being patient are much better, arguably enjoyable.

My story of last night perfectly exemplifies the magic patience can produce. It started with at a low caused by the stress that is quickly produced by the simple task of class registration. It ended with a high five and a great deal of happiness. Thanks patience. Here is the run through of the night.

A concert on a Tuesday night is actually quite fun, and if asked by a friend to go to one, you should go. After instructing my roommate through my color coded word document containing the content of my future (my class registration), picking up a fellow friend in camo pants, and directing a confused Uber driver through an area unknown to myself and my comrade, Brendan, I more than ready to go what I knew would be a fantastic concert.

Upon arrival to the venue, a small (very old) concert hall on the UPenn campus, we were astounded to see that the incredible Tierra Whack was going to be joined by two other incredible rappers. Riz La Vie, a personal favorite, and Tobi Lou, an up and coming rapper from Chicago. We also saw a sold-out sign, and quite soon after that, we remember that we definitely did not buy tickets. We had a situation on our hands, but also a good amount of determination and frustration. Which is great when you need to solve a problem. We approached the open door, and entered into the unknown. (it really wasn't this dramatic).

At this student run concert, consisting mainly of sweaty 18 years olds dramatically running around with clipboards in hand, Brendan and I were at a standstill. Circulating around the U shape table configuration, talking to anyone that would listen. Asking, or rather, pleading if there was, "anyway two people could just squeeze in". After facing only rejection, Brendan and I existed the small old building. Joining the rest of the sad, frustrated, and ticketless stragglers.

When asked what the next line of action was, I responded, "I could wait 10 minutes". Subconsciously using, and unknowingly benefitting from patience. We waited. Time passed. People moved, gathered, and filtered through while we stood quiet, perched on the steps outside the venue door, waiting for something to happen. In this moment, luck happened to be on our side. Just as we started to discuss alternatives for the rest of our night a boy walked out of the side door. A full ticket clasped in his hands. Behind him was a girl, also holding a ticket. Brendan eagerly jumped at the opportunity, buying the ticket off the guy for a mere 3$. Unfortunately for me, the ticket that I got from the girl was ripped making it unusable.

After a failed attempt to slip past the security with the ripped ticket, we found ourselves at a new crossroad, and back at the outside stairs. Due to the nature of the situation I obviously wanted Brendan to use this magical ticket and go enjoy an awesome concert, but was of course sad. Being a reasonable human I urged Brendan to go and enjoy the music, and I would find my way back to campus. With both of us feeling slightly sad, we parted ways.

After watching Brendan disappear into the entrance, I hesitantly pulled out my phone, opened the Uber app, and started to look for a ride. Then I stopped, remembering patience seemed to work before, and I decided there was no harm in waiting just a little bit longer.

While I loitered outside I began to enjoy myself. Just being in the atmosphere of the concert brought an aire of excitement and happiness. Rather than reacting in anger, the other ticketless individuals started talking, laughing, and even playing music together. (Where they got the instruments, I am still quite unsure). Just when I started to build up the courage to strike up conversation with the others, I heard a familiar voice call out my name.

I turned to see my pal Brendan standing in the doorway. He quickly told me to come in, and that he wasn't going to let me go off alone. Somehow, someway Brendan used his impressive people skills to talk security into letting me in. And with that, we charged our way into the crowd. Being hyped by both our success and the concert itself, Brendan and I had a great rest of our night.

A couple take always I learned from this experience were, of course, the incredible value of patience, the point that a positive and optimistic attitude make stressful situations far more enjoyable, and that music is best when shared and enjoyed with others. All and all it was a good night with great people, and stellar music. So I guess I can't complain.

-Gwen