Unless President Farvardin himself denies me my degree, I’ll be graduating in a little under a month. That’s less than 4 weeks until I finally get that slip of paper that’ll let employers know I can sit in a classroom for several hours a day and (usually) turn in my homework on time. Knowing that it’ll all come to an end and that I’ll need to transform myself into a real adult in the very near future has left me in a reflective mood. As I think back on the past four years, I find that while I could’ve done a lot better, I’m happy with my college experience.
My first year of college in the Fall of 2018 was very slow. I had a hard time adjusting to the lifestyle, so I found myself spending most of my time working on classwork and resting. Over time, I realized that I wanted more out of my experience, so I started working toward making more friends and becoming more involved on campus. In high school, I valued the community and organizations that I was a part of, so I started participating in events on campus and joined the Philosophy Club.
As a sophomore, I started to get into the swing of things. I joined The Stute, writing at least one news article a week. I met a lot of great people and developed an understanding of how the school actually works. Writing about the construction on campus? Reach out to Dean Nilsen. Working on an article about smoking? Talk to someone in the Student Government Association (SGA). I felt like an active member of the community, and I loved being able to see how different parts of the school operated. This was also the time that I joined my Fraternity, the Lodge.
That year, the school was having a few ‘logistical issues.’ Delays in the construction of the Gateway Academic Center left professors and students unaware of where their classes were until the first day of class. It took several weeks and several classroom changes for the registrar to finally figure out where to hold classes. During this time, Stevens was also recovering from a devastating cyberattack (the result of all administrator’s passwords being Stevens1870), which resulted in the shutdown of the Stevens Wi-Fi and the delay of several important institutional operations, such as the evaluation of transfer credits, tuition payments, and more.
The year ended even more disastrously than it started. After getting through the cyberattack in the Fall of 2019, the Stevens community thought that it would be able to enjoy a normal semester that Spring, and they were wrong. The pandemic caused pandemonium, as the administration and student organizations tried to navigate the unfamiliar situation along with the rest of the world. The Spring 2020 semester was continued virtually, and unbeknownst to anyone, this would continue for well over a year. During the 2020-2021 academic year, the SGA pushed for Pass/Fail initiatives, and got concessions from the administration.
It was during this time that I was elected and served the entirety of my term as Business Manager of The Stute and was elected as President of the Lodge. My time on these E-Boards in particular helped to define my college life. The Stute allowed me to stay involved, whatever that meant during remote classes, and during my time as President the Lodge became home for me, and my Brothers became a part of my family.
Last semester, classes transitioned to being primarily on campus with certain restrictions, allowing us seniors to scavenge our last year back. Having classes like we used to back in the day has seemed incredibly boring compared to all the uncertainty and confusion that we’ve faced over the past few years.
With all this being said, congratulations to my fellow seniors, and I hope that the rest of you younger folks enjoy the next few years.
Yours Truly,
The Stute’s Resident Dinosaur
Senioritis is an Opinion column written by one or two Stevens student(s) in their last year of study to discuss life experiences during their final year at Stevens, and other related subject matter.
Be First to Comment