When anyone begins their collegiate journey, there always seems to be certain stereotypes and attitudes that they will attempt to emulate. Society, your friends, your family, and even the media all impact your thoughts and beliefs as to what college life will be like. As a result, you traverse your first few weeks within the college landscape with a biased opinion of what college life should be like. In reality, however, you will quickly discover that while college does fit some stereotypes, it shatters so many more. As you progress through the multiple phases of a university sojourn, you slowly start to discover that college isn’t about conforming to stereotypes; it's about breaking them.

You are constantly and consistently maturing in college, whether or not you realize it. You will be introduced to so many different experiences on a day-to-day basis that you will soon realize you will never have enough time for all the things you want to do. However, every new experience you do pursue, and every new connection you do make, will leave a permanent mark on who you are and what you stand for while also further expanding your understanding of the world around you. Perhaps someone from the club soccer team approaches you on campus and invites you to come to a couple practices, which causes you to join the team and fall in love with a sport you hardly cared about before as well as foster friendships that will probably last you a lifetime. Maybe one day your R.A. invites you to some social event for Student Government which kick-starts your pursuit of leadership and desire to better your school as well as improving the quality of student life at your university. Around every corner in college is another opportunity that could completely alter your entire experience at your university, and that kind of consistent ability for change is exactly what makes college so extraordinary; it is also what makes attending college the life-changing experience that lays a foundation for the rest of your life.

Take me, for example. I began college not really sure what to expect, other than the generic stereotypes associated with it. Reflecting back one year later and pondering everything I have experienced and everything I have learned, I couldn’t think of a single experience in my first year in college that I would like to change, because every experience I had gave me a completely new outlook. Most of what I learned didn’t come from a textbook (though those will come in handy), it came from my physical interactions with the people around me, with my teachers, fellow students, and various organizations. It came from consistently seeking out new experiences, looking to try things I hadn’t really tried before, and essentially breaking out of my comfort zone. I’ve had roommates who ranged from awesome truck-driving country gentlemen to highly involved and extremely successful student leaders, all of whom offered me a new outlook on life that I had never really thought of before. Its a true testament to the variety of people you will meet in your college journey, as well how impactful just about anyone can be on your life if you give them the chance.

So, what exactly is this article aiming to prove? Well, it's attempting to be a call to action. A call to both incoming college freshman and a call to current college students. Every single day we have opportunities occur right in front of us on our respective campuses, and more often than not we may simply pass them up because they don’t seem to fit the ‘norm’ of something we would like to do. If you are one of those people who is afraid to leave the comfort zone, you're not alone. There are plenty of college students just like you. But like I stated earlier, college isn’t about conforming and playing it safe. It’s about experiences. It’s about opportunities. It’s about learning. You won’t learn much if you simply go to classes and sit in your room watching netflix. This is the time of your life where you get to experience so many great things, and set the precedent for how you will handle opportunity for the rest of your life. In your four years here at college, you should never let any time or opportunity you have here pass you by. Does your roommate want to go check out a new community service organization on campus? Join them! Is one of your friends trying to convince you to go through rush with them? Give it a shot! College is so short compared to the rest of our lives, and giving a new opportunity a chance is only going to cost you some of your time at worst, but at best could lead to a completely new passion, a collection of new friends or so much more. So while the latest season of whatever is popular on netflix at the time may seem tempting, remember that you have your whole life to sit back on the couch and catch up on ‘House of Cards’ or ‘OITNB’ but you only have a short four years here at college. So take chances. Experience new things. Break the mold. Learn more about who you are and what you stand for, because these years will set the precedent for the rest of your life. Never become complacent. I’ve only been here for one short year, but this one year has made me a completely different person than the bright-eyed freshman who first stepped foot on this campus and it's only because of the opportunities I didn’t push aside and the completely new experiences I’ve had with every person I've met on this campus. With three more years ahead of me, I’m making sure that each year I continue to pursue new avenues and opportunities that I wouldn’t typically try, and hope that this article has been able to convince all of you to do the same. Because even if you are surrounded by opportunity, if you don’t choose to pursue it, the only person that’s really going to be losing out is you.