One week down, 15 more to go. About three years ago this time, college possessed an endless amount of freedom and adventure to me. And for most people it always will.
University allows students to escape the confines of their homes and immerse in a new environment. Most of us who utilize our surroundings such as on-campus housing, student organizations and networking are able to reap the benefits that a university like BGSU has to offer.
Yet for some reason, now that my days on this campus are numbered, I feel different and so do most of my friends who are about to graduate. College suddenly isn’t about going to parties, hitting on girls or spending hours philosophizing about the world. It’s about making sure you end up where you want to be in life.
The most incredible thing about college is the growth and change in character you incur. In fact many freshmen who attend this University will come here to discover that in one semester, they either don’t want to pursue a degree in their current major, want to move to another school or just don’t want to go to college.
Others will face hardships that go beyond comprehendible as they try to discover who they are and how they fit into society. The most challenging part of that is that no amount of guidance can help you find who you are. At the end of the day it’s safe to say that as members of society we haven’t put enough emphasis on the purpose of college.
Universities these days have migrated into becoming more of an experience driven opportunity than a consumer oriented business. This is good in theory because students can’t purchase an education, and in fact one is never guaranteed to you. What you pay for is the journey and the key to open more of them in the future. The most ignorant thing to do is to leave this school feeling like you got robbed.
The experiences you gain, the people you meet, the memories you make at the University will one day be invaluable to you if they aren’t already. The simple lunch gatherings you have with your friends, the study sessions, and the late nights you spend watching TV will be remembered as the part of the happiest times of your life.
While college no longer to me possess freedom and adventure, it still represents a pivotal point in my development, and arguably everyone else who engages themselves. The important thing is to keep going strong. If I could give one piece of advice to incoming freshman it would be that persistence will always prevail.
So go out, take the initiative to challenge yourself and grow, because after these four years you will most likely be shaped into the person you’ll be for the rest of your life, and in case you ever lose hope, know that your fellow falcons will be rooting for you all the way.
