Congratulations. You’re about to enter a challenging, exciting and truly profound time of your life. A university made up of 22,000 unique students in the historic, cultured citadel that is Eugene awaits.
Are you ready?
I wasn’t. I made my way from the East Coast hustle and bustle — an idealistic, ambitious yahoo armed with nothing but a love for adventure — to the innovative and creative Pacific Northwest. I didn’t realize it, but when I look back on that time of my life, I didn’t even know the first thing about taking care of myself.
The fact is, when a college student leaves the “cradle,” where meals, laundry, and shelter are taken care of, suddenly life takes a different turn. The world is at your fingertips. You have the freedom to define who you’re going to be and what you’ll represent for the rest of your life. Thinking about the freedom of college in this regard (rather than the Belushi/Animal House portrayal) might be unsettling, but the path to success is a little different than what the “Princeton Review” might tell you.
The key is getting involved.
As a freshman, you’ll always have the security of locking yourself in your dorm room. You’ll always have the chance to say “no” to an opportunity. But where’s the fun in that?
You have some incredible opportunities ahead of you. There are so many new ideas to hear, people to meet, events to attend and clubs to join. College is all about making your own education. Classes give you direction for your educational pursuits, but the majority of what you learn over the next four years won’t take place in a lecture hall.
So why not spread your wings? Join an organization that will benefit from the talents you will bring to Eugene. Everyone has a niche. There are hundreds of outlets in this community to define yourself through.
Co-founder of the Climate Justice League and incumbent ASUO Senator Jeremy Blanchard was a computer science major when he came to the University. Soon enough, his world was rocked and his life took a turn he never would have imagined.
“As a freshman, I was so concerned with working towards the goals everyone had always laid out for me,” Blanchard said. “You know? Get a degree, find an internship, get a job. I never really questioned what I wanted out of my education. Then one year I was invited to work on Lidi Soto’s ASUO executive campaign. Since then, I’ve been involved in campus politics.”
Blanchard said working with the ASUO student government helped him maximize his college experience.
“All learning happens on the edge of your comfort zone,” he said. “Being in a dynamic environment can enrich your own views when you’re challenged by others. The ASUO put me in a situation I wouldn’t necessarily have opted to be around.”
Getting involved on campus will foster the personal growth that starts in your classes. College is a time of your life where you gain an increased awareness about the world. In a very rapid amount of time, you may find yourself discovering new passions and becoming inspired by questions professors ask in class.
It’s all part of the learning process.
Beyond the conventional realm of academia, make sure to meet as many people from different backgrounds than your own. Remember, every freshman is in the same boat. Rather then searching for a solid group of friends your first year, see if you can make friends with people who have as many different interests as possible. As a student, this will help you become more open to new and different ideas. Through such a process, you’ll find yourself questioning (and maybe changing) the values you’ve grown up with.
Get involved — socially, academically, and through extracurricular activities. Make your own education outside of your classes. You’ll be surprised at the growth that will follow.
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Stretch your limits
Daily Emerald
July 11, 2010
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