There’s something dark chocolate and endings have in common; the good ones are distinctly bittersweet. Not overly saturated, just bittersweet and realistic in an “all good things must come to an end” kind of fashion. Being a biweekly column, this is the last time I will ever write for Mind of a Freshman. From here on out I will be writing Mind of a Sophomore! Just kidding, that column doesn’t exist because it’s universally agreed upon that only the bookend years of college have noteworthy perspectives. Everything in between is One Indistinguishable Blur of Homework and Exams — or so I’ve been told.
In the beginning writing was weird, and if I’m being totally honest, writing for this column still is. It has a tendency to feel daunting — I’m writing into the void! And then out of nowhere I get cards, calls, or texts from my mom’s friends telling me how my mom excitedly sends all of my articles to them and that they enjoy what I write (Hi mom! Hi guys! You’re the best!). Those conversations are the reminder this is not something daunting like the void, and that people do in fact read the random and slightly pedantic things I write to chronicle the freshman experience. All in all it’s inspiring and motivates me to try and get my articles in on time.
Back in September I felt a bit like a fraud to be writing this column because it’s all about the freshman experience and mine was unconventional. Now that I’ve completed 90% of my freshman year, I feel highly qualified to speak upon the topic with a newfound ethos, just like if Bill Gates were to host a typing class. There’s a lot of things I’ve learned during the time I’ve written this column since last September. Some of these things are small, like how writing in Comic Sans feels like the ultimate taboo, but actually makes writing creatively much easier and faster. The one thing I want to talk about, though, is the ultimate lesson I have taken away from this school year in its entirety, best summed up in three words: go for it.
Early in the first semester, someone explained Stevens in a nutshell by saying that it was a good school, but if you wanted the best experience out of it you’d have to actually go for the things you wanted to be a part of. As it turns out, they were absolutely correct. There is so much going on between research opportunities, clubs, and off campus initiatives, but it takes that first step to go out of your comfort zone and apply yourself. Inspired by that logic, I did exactly that and applied to be a columnist at The Stute at the beginning of the school year, and look where we are now!
I’ve brought up the idea of “just going for it” to friends on multiple occasions. More often than not the counterargument I’ve heard is “but what if I fail?” The way I see it is that if you fail, you’re where you started, and you’ve likely learned a thing or two as a result of that experience. In a lot of ways the learning that happens as a result of that failure is much more important than the recognition gained from simply succeeding the first time. It might not seem like it, but failure is one of the most fundamental aspects of life. Partly I’m saying this because I absolutely failed my chemistry test yesterday, but on the bright side, as I said, I have learned the very valuable lesson that studying is a good practice to have and that’s something I won’t forget for a long time.
I have three years and two weeks left at Stevens. Thus far I’ve felt seen and I’ve felt invisible, proud and disappointed, exhausted and excited. Most of all, at this very moment I’m thrilled to go forth and do great things with what I’ve learned and what I will continue to learn; per aspera ad astra.
Mind of a Freshman is an Opinion column written by a current first-year Stevens student to discuss life experiences during their time at Stevens, and other related subject matter.
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