Welcome back!
Already summer has passed, and we’re easing back into the daily grind of classes, work, homework and a social life.
For some of you, this is your first exposure to The U of M. To you, I say congratulations. Get here early enough to find a parking place, and don’t work the Helmsman crossword puzzle in class.
To you old-timer seniors milling around yet another semester, have you noticed the construction zones? Looks like the “shortest distance between two points” rule has been thrown straight out the window.
I remember my first day of college — that anxious feeling that crawled up my stomach and into my throat.
I recall moving into Richardson Towers North and delighting in the fact that my boyfriend, Paul, was in the very same building!
I remember walking into my first class — Honors Philosophy 1101 with Tom Nenon — and thinking that I had really made it. I was free.
There’s something special about going to college — whether it happens straight out of high school, mid-career or late in life.
You have the chance to learn, to develop that mind. And even if you don’t care to learn, say, the parts of the amoeba or the structure of a sentence, you can also take classes in those things that interest you. Like fencing. Or yoga. (Or if you’re like me, you can take a whole semester on the study of graphic novels!)
Besides in-class learning, college offers a chance to develop those interpersonal and discipline skills.
You learn how to deal with roommates, how to keep the smoke detector from going off the first time you burn a bag of popcorn, how to study for finals (and the probable outcome if you don’t study).
Over time, you become adept at juggling a career, your family, a spouse or significant other and classes.
In short, you grow up — mentally and socially. If you haven’t had a taste of the real world and you are not yet an “adult,” get ready. You will be.
A couple of years pass. Students put off taking those undesirable classes (which, for me, would be Spanish).
Some things change. You get a few years older, you might meet somebody new.
A lot of things stay the same. For me, I’m still living in Towers and I’m still nervous on the first day of class every semester. I’m also still with Paul, who proposed to me Friday night after four years of dating.
The funny thing about college, no matter how long you’ve languished here, is that all good things must come to an end.
Before long, you’re donning that cap and gown, making plans for grad school or a career and deciding — once and for all — the direction your life will take.
So don’t take this time for granted.
It’s a new semester.
Make the most of it.
