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Four years ago at my college orientation, I walked onto Loyola’s campus wide-eyed and terribly anxious, excited at the prospect of starting my gradual ascent into adulthood. I had completed alcohol EDU (do they still have that? Because heads up, Loyola, it teaches you nothing and it came in handy exactly never). I had purchased XL twin sheets and read The Naked Roommate. I was chomping at the bit to get to Loyola and still I had no idea what to expect. At orientation, in-between getting-to-know you games and scavenger hunts, I desperately wanted someone to sit me down and say, Look. Don’t do what I did for four years. Here’s what to do. Here’s what not to do. Here’s what to expect — for real.
I’ve been here for four years. Here is my own private orientation. Here is what I learned:
Don’t procrastinate. Seriously. You could get away with it in high school. You could study the material on the way to class and ace the test and just feel like a total champ. Good for you. You can’t do that here. So if you want to pass your tests, here’s what you should do: If you know there’s a test coming up, start studying at least two weeks in advance, a little every night — at least half an hour of review — no matter what. Then get a full night’s sleep before your exam. You’re welcome.
I think in the first few weeks (Or maybe the first year, if you’re me?), new college students can tend to go a little crazy. You are constantly amazed by what you can do and get away with: You can drop the f-bomb in class. You can do your homework (or not!!!!!). You can call your teachers by their first names and you can get drunk on a Wednesday morning and lay in front of the TV all day drunk and eat Cheetos and watch Frasier. My point is this: You’re going to go a little crazy. Have fun, be safe and remember to keep your nose in the books once the novelty wears off.
I get the impression that a lot of people enter Loyola with expectations of what a Jesuit school will be like. Personally, I went to a public high school and I had no idea what a Jesuit college would be like (I guessed we would wear uniforms and be required to go to daily Mass — not so). I also knew a few people who opted out of attending Loyola, since to them a “Jesuit education” meant the administration would be homophobic and dour — an assertion that, after four years of living here, is just laughable. Here’s the thing: A “Jesuit education” can mean whatever you want it to mean. It can either be a great experience where you befriend a lot of priests and do community service, or it can be a really awful experience where you lament about the Wellness Center’s lack of birth control. You can totally immerse yourself in religion or you can ignore it completely. It’s really up to you.
Find a niche for yourself on campus and carve one out. I promise you, you will not regret it. As a shy freshman, I applied to be a copy editor at the Phoenix, knowing no one and intimidated by working a part-time job in my first semester of school. Four years later, I’m still here, loving my job and so thankful for my fellow co-workers whom I have been so blessed to know. Join a club. Form a community. Make your own on-campus family. Some mornings, they will be the only things worth getting out of bed for.
Do what you love. Don’t worry if your parents don’t approve or if the job market sucks. Truthfully, you’re going to keep coming back to what you love anyway, eventually. If you’re a pre-med major but you love writing poetry, you’re going to waste a lot of time and energy trying to divert your passion into a profession that’s more “practical” or lucrative. Do what you love and don’t apologize for it.
And here’s a final thing to chew on: At no other time in your life will you have the opportunity to explore and grow the way you can during college. You’re paying for your education, sure, but you’re also paying for time — time to dick around and get into trouble and get to know yourself as an adult. Use this time. Do whatever you want with it, but know that it is painfully finite. It is so precious, and it goes by so quickly. It goes by way too fast.
Sarah Watts is the Discourse Editor
swatts@luc.edu
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