College: let the insanity begin

 August. Your countdown to college has gone from months to weeks. You and a thousand other young bright-eyed folks are joining the Gonzaga community. Let me be the first to welcome you to our community. I know that each and every one of you cannot wait to get here. You just cannot hide your joy and you're dying under the anticipation. But I can also bet many of you are nervous and anxious about this whole new chapter in your lives. This feeling is completely normal and totally unavoidable. Nothing in your life has prepared you for college. Don't believe me? You know that place you just left, high school? Take all of those social cues, ideas about cliques, and what you understood to be an "education" and throw it out a window. When you leave Gonzaga you will probably not recognize the person that entered in August of 2010.  

Before you start panicking: stop, take a deep breath, and know that a) everyone else is going through the exact same process and b) we are all in this together. Everyone has to go through this adjustment process and it will be easy for some and hard for others. As a senior I feel obligated to pass down to you some words of wisdom that will help you to go far while you are here. I believe you will get through this phase in life with flying colors by following these basic rules. Shall we begin?

Question everything. A  Jesuit education demands that you critically examine all aspects of your life. This is a healthy exercise and often leads to a profound discovery about yourself. This discovery is half the fun of college; you need to examine and grow as a person and you cannot be afraid of where you end up. One of my most profound discoveries here ended with me converting to Catholicism. It was bold, it was scary, and it made me a better person. Don't take anything that you are told as gospel, find out for yourself.

Be kind to your Roommate. It doesn't matter if you were a single child or one of seven kids: you're sharing a room with someone. Be kind, clean up after yourself, and don't disturb your roommate when he/she studies. If you two (or three) have an issue, talk it out. You're going to live with this person for a year. You don't have to like him or her, just make sure you are not trying to kill each other right around finals time. If you're respectful and kind to your roommate, they will return the favor. Plus, this way you can practice when you have three or more housemates as a junior or senior. 

Talk to your professors. You just got an F on a history exam. What do you do about it? You go and talk to your history professor (or chemistry professor, business professor, etc). One of the best things about Gonzaga is the professors actually care that you are learning something, which you won't find at a giant state school. They are more than happy to point out where you went wrong and more importantly they will point you in the right direction to succeed. Use this resource. 

Don't limit yourself to one type of friends-group. Remember in high school when all of the football players would hang out only with other football players? That doesn't fly at college. Having a nice healthy cross-section of friends from all disciplines shows that you're not one-dimensional. Don't be picky about friends, you will be a better-rounded person for it. Plus, cliques are just awful and only OK in "Mean Girls."

Buddy up. This advice is for nightly activities. Remember in kindergarten when you had to have a buddy on field trips? This is a must in college for two reasons: a) safety and b) life is a lot more fun when you have a partner in crime. When you look back on this experience you're going to find that what you loved the most is not what you did, but who you did it with. 

Own up to your mistakes. If and when you get written up by your RA, it's just best to own your mistakes. Tell your parents before the University sends the letter; they may get mad but at least you took responsibility. It may not be the real the world yet, but you're an adult. You're going to have a lot more freedom which means a lot more responsibility. Just remember this one very important fact: nine out of 10 times it was your fault for getting written up and 100 percent of the time you deserved it. 

HAVE FUN. Welcome to the most insane part of your life. This adventure will make you want to cry, scream, laugh, yell, curse, smile and giggle. You will read, see and hear things that will change your life forever. You're about enter the most amazing four years of life — you have to, you want to, you need to enjoy every single second. And remember: if any upper-classman gives you any crap for being a freshman, trust me they are just jealous that you still have four years of this wonderful life. Welcome to college everyone!