“This is it.” That phrase has two entirely different meanings for you and me. You are entering Stevens Institute of Technology for you first college year, and I’m leaving it for my last. The dichotomy of our two situations is the perfect coincidence, as our contrasting positions at Stevens are complementary to each other.
When I think about my freshman year, I remember all of the good times, the bad times, and the hard times. I remember doing well in some courses, struggling with my classmates in another, and sleeping through one of my final exams. I remember thinking I found “the one,” feeling like an outsider, and making friends that will last well beyond college.
As I recall my freshman experience with your collective arrival at Stevens, I realize that our inverted places allow me to provide you with just a single account of hindsight, but a bit of hindsight nonetheless. I have a lot of regret about my freshman year, and while I don’t necessarily carry that around my neck every day in sorrow, I want you to understand that it does exist and isn’t positive in any way.
The worst thing anyone can do is nothing. Yes, the clichéd “try something new” or “get involved” receives thousands of eye-rolls yearly from incoming freshmen (myself included), but we only shrug off clichés because we know they’re true. From your final days of high school, hearing about time management from your teachers to the several bits of advice you’ll find in this very issue, you’re going to hear a lot from others suggesting courses of action for you, and, I suspect, shrug it off the same as any other bit of clichéd advice you’ve heard in the past.
Instead, I won’t tell you to do anything. For example, there are four other editorials in this issue with different students welcoming you, reflecting with you, and providing you with some form of advice based on what they’ve been through. Read them, skim them, or ignore them; that is your choice. I’m just stating the tools at your disposable in this particular issue for you information.
However, let me close by returning to my freshman year and recounting some of the regrets I mentioned I had earlier in the editorial. When I joined the sports and fitness preorientation, I was promised go-karts. Due to some scheduling conflict I did not get to race in go-karts, but was on a bus with cliques: baseball players, lacrosse players, swimmers, runners, and me. Fortunately, by a lucky die roll from the universe, I met someone who is easily a lifelong friend. In fact, this person is one of my best friends (incorrect use of the superlative notwithstanding).
When preorientation concluded and it orientation began, there was freshman-wide luau, which you either have or will attend by the time you read this. I was alone at this luau for reasons relevant beyond this piece and instead of literally diving down the waterslide or getting involved in the pit of students dancing, I relegated myself to a corner with a couple people I barely knew. Ironically, the safety net that I cast for myself became the most dangerous trap in my freshman year, and it is something I found myself repeatedly caught in.
When I think back to my freshman year I remember how wondrous it was. This whole campus was a giant blank slate—a larger-than-life reset button. In fact, you don’t have to even press the button yourself; everything’s new when you get here. Again, I won’t tell you to heed my advice, but know that I didn’t take of the new opportunities I had to meet new people, get out of my comfort zone on the sideline, and be myself. I was so worried about being judged, but guess what: I only limited my future self. I can confirm, as Present Frankie, that Past Frankie’s reluctance has led to some of Present (and Future) Frankie’s remorse.
If life were a film, high school would be take one. Take one was pretty awful for me, with a few exceptions. Thankfully, college is take two. You will have the opportunity to fix what went wrong in high school and, if you disliked the people in yours as much as I did, leave that place behind forever.
Take two begins now. This is it. Go against your “better judgment” of not doing something because it makes you feel embarrassed or uncomfortable and do it. Don’t let Present You get the better of Future You. As you’ll hear several times throughout your first month: welcome to Stevens. See you around.
