Acorn

Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: Opinions

Media Credit: Jessica Glickman

As I look ahead into the next few weeks, I am met with uncertainty and a future that has no clear path. As I'm sure you can imagine, this sight brings with it a great deal of uneasiness. But as I look back at the last four years, I am greeted with a solid foundation that I believe will follow me into the years ahead. While I might not know what life has in store for me-partially because that's how life is, partially because I haven't been the most diligent senior-I do know that I have learned a lot from this place to help me through.

Drew University has shaped me into the person I am today-intellectually, socially and perhaps even spiritually. And while I know I still have a lot to learn about the world and my place in it, I feel that I now have a few more tools to help me along the way. Whether you're a freshman just starting out, or a junior gearing up for a decisive year ahead, or maybe even a prospective student who picked up The Acorn on a tour, I'd like to share with you some of what I have learned. I'm sure you'll have a list of your own by the time you graduate from Drew.

? You are not going to like everyone you meet. In turn, not everyone you meet is going to like you. Some of them will have no reason for disliking you. Some will have very good ones. Regardless, don't let it get to you. Learn from the situation what you can-about yourself, about that other person, about people in general-and move on.

? Be vulnerable. And by vulnerable, I don't mean to put yourself in a compromising situation with the starters on the baseball team. Drew provides its students with a relatively safe environment in which they can open themselves up to all sorts of possibilities-intellectually and socially, among others-but it's up to us to put ourselves out there and let our guards down. You might be uncomfortable, you might get embarrassed and you might make mistakes, but no one really ever learned anything about themselves or about the world by walking around with his or her nose in the air. And no one wants to be friends with an ice queen.

? Drew is a liberal arts school. Take advantage of it. Study what sounds interesting to you. Challenge yourself. Find out what concepts and ideas really get you excited. Drew has a myriad of different majors for a reason. Different topics appeal to different people. And not one major will guarantee you a job right out of college. I love literature, and while studying the works of Chaucer might not help me make the big bucks, it certainly has helped shape my character and intellect. I've heard too many seniors lament not having pursued the major they really wanted because another one was easier or seemed more practical. The real world looks for people who know how to think on their own and communicate their ideas. Every major at Drew-if taken seriously-will prepare you for that.

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