Yesterday was the last day of Freshmen Orientation for the class of 2015 here at ASU. Since I had been working with Orientation all summer, I finally decided to go to their opening session just to see what it was all about. It was while I was sitting in the back dismissing the sign that says "No food or drink in the auditorium" and eating some Bojangles and listening to the Dean of Student Development and the Director of Student Conduct talk about discovering who you are and making college the best it can be, these thoughts of my college orientation all came flooding back to me. I could tell that there was this energy in the air as students were eagerly anticipating their next chapter in life: college. The thoughts of who they would become, the people they would meet, the classes they would take, I'm certain were frequent among many students. However, I'm certain the thoughts of what type of fun can I have, or what kind of trouble can I get away with, may have been more common than the previous inquiries. But being so far removed from that time in my life, it caused me to take a step back, reflect on what it was like for me and attempt to place myself back into their shoes.
When I went to orientation prior to my Freshmen year, it was the first time I actually saw the college I was going to be attending in just a few short weeks after. The first person I met was my crazy advisor who ended up being my professor for multiple courses I took throughout my career. Since I had enrolled in a private Christian college, he immediately took to quizzing me on the number of books in the Bible and asking all of these ridiculous questions which really caused me to doubt all I had learned during my VBS years. (If you're curious it's 66 total books.) I think that encounter left me so traumatized that the only things I remember after that point was awkwardly talking to some other students at lunch and finally figuring out just how much this private school was going to cost...thus doing the math, figuring out how much in loans I would be paying back... for the rest of my life!
While I really don't remember the details, I remember that eager anticipation of being on the brink of a new chapter in life. The unknown was exciting and scary as hell at the same time. But soon I was moving to a new place, onto a new adventure and had every opportunity to redefine who I was. I can only imagine that this auditorium full of future ASU students were now experiencing a similar feeling that I did back then.
Now looking back on my college years, I want to encourage all those students, and everyone else for that matter with this little nugget of wisdom: Don't just wait until the start of a new chapter in your life to redefine yourself or make it better than what it was before. Go after it with everything you have everyday you are given! In all areas of your life take chances, learn from your mistakes, and have some fun along the way!
Best of luck class of 2015! Go Mountaineers!
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