It’s Paige! I know it’s been a while since I last wrote, but it’s not something you can rush. When blogging becomes a chore, it looses its spark. So tonight, I’m going to talk to you all about my experience over the last year and a half, in the form of a letter to an incoming freshman. So here goes nothing.Graduating high school seemed surreal; change seems at once inevitable and all-encompassing. You really learn who your true friends are in college. Without being bound by your groups at lunch and common classwork, the only thing holding friendships together is the remembrance of adventures past and the promise of those yet to happen, either next summer or over a break. Some people you’ll text a couple times a month(remember to send your friends texts when you think of them!), and some you won’t.
Coming to college is like trying to drink out of a fire hose. All this information, all these clubs and sports and new faces and new places. I think my head spun for at least the first two months. But then you find your grove. Classes will help guide you; your social life will move in a wave almost exactly opposite to the amount of work you’re assigned. You’ll meet new people every day, and build a network from which to draw support, and inspiration, and connection.
For me, it was really important that I tried everything my first year. I found in high school I didn’t really try everything until junior year, so I came to college knowing that I wanted to branch out. I joined a couple engineering clubs(I’m a mechanical engineering major) and a sustainability initiative, Greenfest. On top of these organizations, I was still working once a week at my internship at home.
In Greenfest, I pursued my new-found passion for sustainability and learned that a little change can go a long way. One of the biggest problems most people, including myself, face is a lack of awareness. I was unaware what a huge positive impact a group can make by encouraging recycling, or spending our Saturdays on the beach cleaning up.
I learned how important my family was, and also how much I value a little time alone to reflect on my life. I think in this world of constant social media updates we sometimes forget about the importance of spending time offline, reading or writing or just laying out in the sun. In the absence of dogs, people do go a little crazy whenever a cute doggo is spotted on campus.
I also want to add a quick thank you to the people who have pushed me and challenged me and supported me, regardless of the outcome. To my best friends and the exec boards of all my organizations, the creatives that have inspired me and the geniuses that have helped me with homework. To my family, for being my sound board for all my crazy ideas and for helping me through this year. I am so very grateful.
I discovered my favorite quote this year, by Robert Ingersoll: “We rise by lifting others”. This is a mentality I wish to carry with me into the future, as well as “Service because of self”. I have found that dedicating my time to someone who has less than me really fills me up. And I am lucky, because that doesn’t happen for everyone.
I hope you value your time and your energy as much as I do, and I hope to inspire you all to make an impact, be it big or be it small.
Always,
Paige Finn