Five Things First Year Students Need To Hear
1. Don’t call your parents every time you need to make a decision, not even the really huge ones like about which socks to wear on the first day of class or what to do if your roommate’s iPod is too loud;
2. If your roommate’s iPod is too loud, gesture to your roommate to remove the earbud and have a conversation. You remember conversation. It’s that thing that happens when people speak in words while not texting or being on the phone with someone else. Conversations are good. Learn how to have them, even with people you haven’t met before. Make eye contact and smile — please don’t be too hip or cool to smile — and say hello. Introduce yourself. It’s one of the best things you’ll ever learn how to do;
3. Don’t just keep doing what you’ve always done before. Remember, university life houses both the arrivals and the departures gates — if you’ve always been brilliant at sciences, try the humanities; if you’ve always done well in English, try social sciences; take a film course, an art history class, one in nutrition, or a class in astronomy. But what college does not house — at least, not for those students who are planning to arrive at an interesting destination — is a rest area, a cocktail lounge, or a food court. You did not come here to sit in the waiting area and breathe through your mouth while watching reruns of Scrubs;
4. Remember, you came here to get an education. You did not come here only to get a diploma. A piece of paper is not in itself a big deal; you are here to earn a degree from a flagship state university. It’s not like in The Wizard of Oz when the Wizard tells the Scarecrow “I can’t give you a brain, but I can give you a diploma.” Over the next four years you’ll genuinely earn your degree, just the way you’ll earn your grades. You’ll never be given a grade: you’ll receive the grade you earn. Your successes are up to you;
5. And we’re confident that you’ll have them. Lots of them. Especially if you remember that the most important part of life is showing up. If you have an 8 am class, be there by 7:59 (especially if it’s the one I’m teaching, because I shut my classroom door at 8:01). One thing that’s different from high school— something that distinguishes college as the start of your adult lives— is that there are few possibilities for do-overs or make-ups. You’re either where you’re supposed to be or you’re not;
BUT…
Actually, we’re not worried. You are where you are meant to be. And we know you’ll rise to the occasion. We’re confident. We chose you carefully and we’re sure we’ve chosen wisely. We know you’re the best. And your family knows it, too, even when they’re giving you a hard time, as they were today. You have in front of you innumerable adventures, opportunities, challenges, laughs, friendships and achievements.
Everybody in this room can’t wait to hear what you’ll make of these choices, especially if you’re not calling us every three minute (and hey, we also promise not to bug YOU incessantly either) but instead triumphing and conquering all of them, and making college your own — on your very own terms.
