Make the most of your college experience, Gorloks. It’s over before you know it.
College has been the best experience of my life. I didn’t care much for high school, I just wanted it to be over so I could move on. Community college…well, I wasn’t very involved there either. Something switched in me when I arrived at Webster in August 2019.
There was something vibrant about the campus, something magical about actually getting to study something I was interested in and not be in general education classes or the torture of math equations.
But, there are definitely a few regrets I have in my college career. Monica Obradovic wrote a great piece in 2019 when she started her senior year about what she wished she could tell her freshman self. Now I, feeling inspired as ever by Obradovic, want to do the same thing — not just to my past self, but to those who are continuing their education as I finish mine in just a few short weeks.
The time machine has still not been invented and I can’t change what I did, but hopefully, I can impart some lasting wisdom on those who don’t wish to make the mistakes I did.
Not getting involved sooner
I’ve done a lot at Webster within the School of Communications, but I still feel like I didn’t participate as much as I could have. I’m a commuter, a full-time student and an employee of Carol House Furniture, leaving little time for participating in much else. I also have been an intern twice now. My schedule was jam-packed for a lot of my time here. The one thing I wish I could have done was free up some of my time to be involved in some of the great organizations we have here.
Many of my friends that I have made here have been through reporting on the clubs they belong to or events they have planned. I wish I would’ve spent more time with them and gotten involved in more. The Journal has been a great place and the newsroom has become a home, but I should’ve been way more involved both at Webster and in community college.
Remembering that the people are the best part of college
Too many times I’ve gotten caught up in the stress of grades or projects or deadlines. Too many times I’ve told my friends I couldn’t hang out with them due to the weight of grades. I can genuinely say that the people have been the best part of Webster.
Between professors, friends and the staff, I’ve never seen a nicer group of people joined together by a campus. I mean, most of my time has been spent behind a screen because I came to campus right before a global pandemic hit, but the way this community came together was crazy in the best way possible. I love every single person I’ve met.
It’s all about balance
I feel as if almost everyone I know is completely burnt out. We’re burnt out from the pandemic, we’re burnt out about school, we all just want to throw in the towel and just exist for a bit. I think the main source of this is simply just not knowing when to step back and take a deep breath.
Personally, I know that I tend to overload myself until I’m on the verge of a mental breakdown. I keep saying “yes” to everything, not factoring in that I had four assignments, a 40-hour workweek and a newspaper to run. It is okay to say no. It is okay to put your mental health first.
Make the most of your college experience, Gorloks. It’s over before you know it.
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I like to write, a lot. I mainly focus in the news and lifestyle sections. When I'm not writing, I'm hanging out with my nephews, reading or binging a Netflix show. I have a really cool dog named Harper, too. She's the cutest.
