Hello and happy Monday friends! I hope y’ all had a blessed Easter and spent some time with family! I got to spend my last Easter in Ohio with family and I was also able to spend some time on facetime with Kyle. I’ve been counting down till this week for the last 110 days and it is crazy to think that it’s finally here! Graduation is this upcoming weekend, and I figured it would be fun to do a blog post every day this week summing up some type of content from my five years in college. For my first post, I decided to share the top five things I have learned in my five years at Walsh.
Not everyone is going to be your friend. I’m sorry to break that to ya, but you’re there for one reason and that’s to further your education…. not your friend group! You’re gonna meet some amazing friends, faculty, staff and more BUT along with that, you’re also going to meet people who do not wish to see what’s best for you. Don’t fall into that trap!! Not everyone wants to see you succeed and don’t let those people steer you away from accomplishing things they wish they could. The president at my school stated in every speech: “if you fall down, that’s okay! Even if you feel like you can’t get up, just lift up a hand and someone here at Walsh will reach down and help you up.” Make sure to find those people who are willing to reach out that helping hand, they’re the ones who are gonna cheer on your success!
Be sure to get involved on campus! And once you do get involved, DO NOT and I repeat, DO NOT put all of your time and effort into one office, club, or job. You are an extremely skilled and talented person, don’t let just one person see what you’re capable of. Network throughout the entire campus and create relationships that you can continue to grow through your time at school and even post-graduation! It’s amazing what you can learn once you’ve stepped outside your bubble! And most importantly don’t let what you’ve accomplished go unnoticed! Your accomplishments may have created the biggest impact on campus and you deserve recognition for that! Get involved, get to know everyone, and always be bubbly to those you see on campus… trust me you don’t know who might actually be watching!
It’s okay to change your major 10 times before you permanently settle. You are making a decision that is going to ultimately change everything for the rest of your life so don’t settle! Make sure what you’ve decided on is what YOU want to study! And if you decide you wanna change your mind again, go for it! It’s not easy making the decision of how you wish to spend the remainder of your life at such a young age… especially because the short amount of time we have been on earth, we’ve been told what to do! Make sure YOU are happy with your education decision, then run with it! The world is yours once you’ve decided!
DO NOT BE A FOLLOWER! The time you are given in college is crucial for discovering the type of person you hope to become! When you begin your college career you can either create your own spotlight and radiate light into a multitude of places on campus or you can fall into someone’s shadow and go unrecognized! I highly suggest you create your own spotlight and don’t be afraid to let that baby shine! It’s so easy to fall into the party scene because you see so many people having “fun.” Well, I guarantee you that you’ll have just as much fun hosting a Mario Kart (highly recommend the GameCube version) night with your friends who are feeling homesick! Find your light and find as many ways to let it shine as possible because you want to become somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody! And like I said earlier, you never know who may be watching you!
Most importantly, have fun! The time you spend in college is crucial for discovering the real you but it is also important to discover what college has to bring besides education! Stay up late eating raw cookie dough, go out with friends for some bowling, host a beer Olympics, take late night walks, or even try out for a sports team! Yes, you are there to further your education but you are also there to create a lifetime of memories you can always reflect back on! It’s important to grow your education but it’s also important to grow friendships and memories!
And one final pointer… if life doesn’t go as you planned, that’s okay! You are going to run into not just hills but mountains in your college career. Some you may even feel are impossible but nothing’s impossible if you don’t let it stop you! Every hill and mountain you overcome while in college are going to shape you into the person in which you aspire to be and look up to! Don’t let those hills define who you are because they aren’t you, they are just apart of your story! Only you can define who you are and as far as we’re both concerned that’s the only thing that matters! Be proud of who you are and what you’ve overcome while earning a higher education!
