As I watched the Oscars on Sunday, I was forced to re-examine a question I’ve been thinking about for some time.

I, like many college students, possibly all college students, have anxiety about my post-college future. I constantly wonder whether my current major will lead me down an exciting, satisfying career path – both intrinsically and financially. I want to have a true calling and follow it with all my heart.

I have been waiting for that godly light to come down from heaven and guide me in the right direction. You know, that one moment when the sky opens up and you finally know your purpose in life.

If you haven’t had that kind of a moment yet, you’re in good company – with what feels like everyone on earth. If you truly want that moment, I hope you can wait a lifetime. Life is a series of blind corners. The guiding light is, and always will be, elusive.

The question I asked myself was, why do we all have this inner drive for instant self-fulfillment? Where does this drive come from? Why are we all waiting for this perfect movie moment? As I watched the Oscars, that answer suddenly became solidified – we watch too many movies.

We want what the silver screen has to offer us – the perfect spouse, the perfect job, the perfect family. All idealistic concepts far removed from our day-to-day realities.

To compound this problem, the actual life of a celebrity is a twisted hyper-reality full of money and lavish living – who wouldn’t want that?

It is inevitable that we should start to envy such lifestyles. We would all love to receive as much acclaim for our accomplishments as Daniel Day Lewis received for “There Will Be Blood.” Just imagine if the poor child from the inner city who despite strife and struggle to graduate high school or the police officer who puts his life on the line every day were to receive such national applause for their actions – what a world that would be.

That is not the case, though. Instead we have collectively elevated to an almost-royal status those who act in feature films. They earn millions and we swoon at their feet. They are the standard which many hope to live up to.

But most of us won’t. Most of us will work our entire lives for little pay. Some will endure great suffering at the hands of loved ones. Many will jump hurdle after hurdle trying to find their place in life. We will wait naively for that magic movie moment to arrive and sweep us up and out of our current condition. But we all know that will never happen.

We can’t be quick to place all the blame on Hollywood. They are only on their pedestals because we put them there – we can only blame ourselves. However, the sooner we bring them back down to earth, the sooner we can elevate those around us who more assuredly deserve it – teachers, soldiers, your everyday blue-collar workers.

Still, we cannot walk away from this question completely jaded. Movies do teach us one very important lesson – that hardship, pain, loss and tragedy all make for a compelling story. A story that we can all actually relate to, and one so great even the Coen brothers could not have written it. A story that we in fact are living out. We are the actors, and life is the toughest script we ever could have received – I think we all deserve Oscars.

– Chris Potratz is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Dallas, Texas.