Getting back to school after a long winter break can be both exciting and nerve-wracking, especially for a freshman. On one hand, a plethora of new people have entered into your life and you are excited to see these people again. On the other hand, you are no longer considered “new” and there is more expected of you; tardiness is no longer understood and grades are expected to be higher. The interesting thing about coming back after a break, especially if you did not pick up a ton of hours for a job, is that you have to readjust to the normality of being back in school.
I personally had a month-long break and worked very few hours over the break. I used my time to catch up with old friends but also spent that time catching up on television series. I managed to finish the last 4 seasons of ABC’s Lost as well as the first half seasons of my three favorite CW shows: Arrow, Flash, and Supernatural. It quickly becomes apparent that there is no longer time to just binge watch TV because classes start back up and with classes comes homework. Homework is normally the bane of a student’s existence, but this new semester has seen a change in assignments being busy work to having some actual meaning and relevance.
Most people call the first week back from break “Syllabus week” because all of your classes go over the syllabus. This can be boring and tedious but I managed to retain some important information from my first week back. I heard two things that stood out and should be used to develop us into good people.
The first is about understanding circumstances. My theology professor said that people don’t wake up and decide they want to raise their kids in poverty. If we truly care for all people we have to understand that not everyone is in the same situation. Understanding differences allow us to make connections with people and do something for people if at all possible.
The second bit of information is about human personality. My professor told me that humans have three different ways of acting: the opportunist, the uninterested, and the compassionate. People will either act as an opportunist, and only do something if it is convenient; uninterested, and avoid doing something because it does not pertain to them; or compassionate, and will do something for the benefit of others. Most people go through life focusing on being an opportunist, but if we can shift our mindset and think more how we can be compassionate towards one another we can make the world a nicer place to live.
