« Anderson Cooper! and the zoo | Home | Project 80: Finals »
So this is it.
By Julia S. | June 4, 2012
For all practical purposes, freshman year is over (sans finals, that is).
So yeah. Best year of my life. I mean that. Year 2 is going to have to be pretty amazing to top it—I have high hopes, though.
But I’ll elaborate. After a year at Ohio State, this is what I’m walking away with:
1. “Don’t let people push you around, unless you’re in a wagon, ‘cause that would be fun.” -Internet wisdom
That is, come to college with an open mind, but be a critical thinker! I loved getting the opportunity this year to learn in a diverse environment: ideologically, ethnically, spiritually, etc. I’m not necessarily saying you must change your worldview when you go to college or that you must not—in my case, my religious/political views didn’t change this year—if anything, they were strengthened. However, I do think I’ve been able to grow in terms of tolerance, cultural sensitivity, and expand my realm of advocacy to a lot of things I hadn’t before, like human trafficking (something my Christian group on campus focuses on a lot).
2. “Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” –Goethe
The time is finally here, comrades! All your life you’ve been waiting to study something you’ve actually chosen for yourself, and now you can! Hurray! Now you can prepare yourself to go get a job you’ll hopefully like. Who knows? Maybe you’ll love it. That’d be something. So take classes seriously. Work hard and be proud of the results regardless. Study what you really want even if it means you’ll have some hoops to jump through, because we all do. For example, before coming to OSU, I had pretty much ruled out the idea of getting a Master’s degree. But now that I’m already done with one year of undergrad, the concept doesn’t seem so unattainable anymore. So incoming freshmen, as you’re scheduling your classes this summer at orientation, I implore you to keep this in mind!
3. “Life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
To quote Ferris Bueller, I think that this pretty much sums it up. This year was the greatest and fastest of my life, so on what I hope is a not-too-contradictory note, have some fun. Yes, work hard. But enjoy your first year, too, because Ohio State is so much more than just academics. You’ll want to walk away from frosh year having really lived it, which requires a moderate amount of questionable time management every now and then. Walk to Cane’s at 10 pm on a Tuesday just because. Do a 12 hour dance marathon to raise money to end childhood cancer. Watch the movie Tangled 8 times over the span of two quarters (or not). Jump in a freezing lake during Beat Michigan Week because Ohio State is just that awesome. Spend time just sitting around and really really get to know people. Or go running barefoot in the rain with your suitemates instead of studying:
O-H-I-O-ing with the William Oxley Thompson statue in front of Thompson Library after frolicking in the rain. I’m the first O.
On a moderately unrelated note, happy summer! If you’re looking for some fun things to do, take the advice of the 20th floor resident advisor of Lincoln Tower, who offers these tips on his bulletin board:
~~~
Rude Awakening: I hate to sound whiney, but packing is such a pain. It was a lot more exciting to pack for Ohio State than to pack it all back up to go home. Sigh. End of school year blues. But hey, at least I’m not complaining about finals!
Pleasant Surprise: I thought this campus pic was pretty cool. That’s where I live on the left!
In firm friendship,
Julia Rose S.
O-H-I-O Picture: Taken by Catherine Mouch, edited by Megan van Almsick
Lightning Picture: Taken by Mechanical Engineering student Andrew Salt
Topics: Advice, Campus Life, Julia S., Personal, School Spirit, Student Life, Why Ohio State? | 2 Comments »
June 12th, 2012 at 11:23 am
Its good you have school spirit. It is an important part of your college experience. Grades tend to be higher with those who take pride in where they go to school.
June 16th, 2012 at 5:27 pm
Hello,I love to find out more on this topic. I appreciate you for publishing So this is it. | Buckeyes Blog.