Seniors,
A big congratulations to you on graduating this year.Thank you for being a role model to us and helping us underclassman realize how important college and life is.
They teach us that it is okay to go out Sunday, Monday and every day of the week. Every week? No, but once in a little while it is perfectly acceptable to go out and celebrate all of your hard work. Well to be honest, when are you going to go out on a weekday once you get a job? Might as well take advantage of it.
It is also okay to wait until the last minute to do your paper or study for a big exam. Are you stressed for about 10 hours panicking that you aren't going to get the paper done or your studying done? Yes. Is it not your best work? Yes. Are you are going to remember the nights you slept or the nights you have stayed up panicking hating everyone who was asleep?
Sometimes it's okay to be silly. You have the rest of your life to be smart, mature, focused and professional. Now is the time to act immature and silly while still getting your work done. Now is the time to make some mistakes and regret some decisions (not too much) but enough that you learn from and are able to bounce back to your mature self.
You go home, college is not forever (although some may wish it was). College lasts 4 years, not a lifetime. Enjoy it. Some transfer and that is 100% okay. Every school is a stepping stool. I have transferred and it made me a better person today and made me realize what I really wanted in life.
Like i said, college is not forever, take advantage of it. It will be over before you even know it. Enjoy every second of the day. Enjoy the weather even though the weather may be the worst thing about where you go to school.
You don't need to know all of life's answers. You really don't. You can answer some of those questions now but the others come later. College will close and that chapter will finish but it turns the page to the next chapter where you can answer questions along the way.
It's okay to change your major. Sometimes it is stressful not knowing what you want to do in life, others do and you're just at school taking random classes, wasting your parent's money. It is okay, you will figure it out and everything will be okay.
Crying is acceptable (whether it be about school or the fact that you are almost a "real adult"). If you don't have a mental breakdown and cry at least once a week then I wish i was you. It is okay to cry, it makes things easier sometimes when crying, you get your emotions out and then you feel better (maybe), (hopefully), (one day).
Take a lot of pictures and videos (make a video at the end of the semester). Zoom in on your friends and catch them at their craziest, ugliest moments. One day you will look back on it and even if you aren't friends still it will make you laugh. Also, make a video at the end of the year and look back on it a little later. It will bring back all of the memories that you made. Make the video at the end of each semester, the more videos the better.
Lastly, it goes quick. You are going to be a real adult soon and it will be okay. Do not waste your time on the boys you meet in college. They are not that important. The important thing is your friends, school work and naps. Take advantage of naps, soon you will daydream of a nap you could be taking but not. School and life go by quickly. You are 21/22 years old and you need to take advantage of being young and stop worrying about the future.
Enjoy the Real World,
Underclassman
