Seek wisdom from upperclassmen

I realized many of my columns are either geared towards seniors in school or the general public. But with this being the first semester of college for many of you, I thought it’d be appropriate to pass down some advice. 

With this being my last year at Chadron I feel like there are some things I wish I knew during my freshman year that I know now. 

First, you don’t have to be perfect. Your grades, test scores and how you’re doing in a class does not define you. College is a place where you learn, fail often, try something new and figure out who you are. 

Maybe you thought you would go into a particular field, but realized it was nothing like you thought. It doesn’t keep your interest and you want to change your major. That’s okay, people change their majors all the time. 

You don’t have to be stuck where you thought you would be. There are areas you thought you’d excel in, but just couldn’t and that is okay. You’re not expected to be perfect in college. People act like they have it all together on campus and I promise that no one does.

Next, you don’t have to sign up for everything and do everything people want you to do. It is okay to just say no. You are not obligated to do everything that people ask of you. I know that is a strange concept and I really wish I would’ve known this earlier in college. But you do not have to sign up for every club, you don’t have to attend every event or hang out with people all the time. 

Above all you don’t have to give anyone an excuse as to why you said no. You can just say no. Telling someone no can be hard because we feel like we need to have an excuse. However, if you don’t want to do something, that should be a good enough excuse. 

The last thing I want to leave you with is to talk with upperclassmen. Throughout your college career you will be in classes with people who have been in college or taken multiple courses before. They will always have information to give. I also think most upperclassmen would be happy to help and provide you wisdom from study tips to who the is best professor to discuss topics with. Don’t be afraid to talk to them and ask questions. They have been in your shoes before. They know how hard it is. Just be kind and ask.

I hope that everyone, especially freshman, can take some nuggets of information away from this. Above all, you aren’t alone and someone was in your shoes. There’s always room to learn and grow through our failures. That’s what college is for right?