Freshmen should be wary of the temptation to stay in their newfound routine.
Familiarity may breed contempt, but more often it breeds comfort, which usually leads to stagnation. The pattern is one our minds can fall into very easily. Our increasingly sedentary nature shows through more often than we probably would like to admit.
We are able to do more than ever without leaving our country, state, city or even house. Our surroundings do not help either. From a realistic viewpoint — and I write this with affection and as a lifelong Midwesterner — we live in our own small corner of the Midwest, and small communities in the Midwest do not have the greatest track record of geographic or cultural turnover.
It is a shame in many ways because it flies in the face of what college means to most people. College is the time to grow as a person, truly develop yourself, expand your horizons and find your life’s passions.
As cliché-ridden as that last sentence was, there is a point. Clichés do not become clichés unless someone, somewhere, at some time had some idea what he or she was talking about. While some of the personal development goals associated with college are so lofty they can take a lifetime to achieve, laying some groundwork never hurt anybody.
Freshmen: I am pointing my finger at you most of all when I say groundwork. You collectively have the most to gain or let pass by in the four years you will be spending in our slice of reality.
You know that thing scratching at the back of your brain? Just do it. Unless what you are thinking it is an offense against the state or your fellow person, just do it.
Clubs, theater, service trips, Greek life, or — ahem — The Creightonian are just a sampling of what is available to you. This is possible because we live in a special place I like to call “Real World-Lite.”
We are close, so close, to being real, proper adults, but we are not quite there. True, we are out on our own, but the warm and cuddly cushion of school still sits below to break our fall. This could easily be seen as suffocating. But that would be foolish since our situation is far from a burden.
After college, you most likely will not be able to choose your work schedule like you choose your classes. Your workplace will not have a “work abroad” program, unless you are an international business major. You will probably not have bosses who care about you like your teachers do.
This “lite” version of real life is a gift, but one with a short lifespan. It might as well be sitting under a Christmas tree, waiting for you. And you know how your parents always said to wait until Christmas morning to open your gifts? Forget that nonsense. Get in there, tear that wrapping paper off as quickly as possible, and make the most of it while you can.