Take their word for it: 10 pieces of advice from departing seniors
Compiled By Emily Guzman and Elaine Ezekiel, Staff Writers
“Try not to lose track of who you are or where you come from. Take action on the things you love. Remember that the power is within the student body, if you can come together. Enjoy freshman year because it only goes downhill from there. And if you’re not a freshman, well, sorry! Never eat soggy waffles, and never eat in the cafeteria before a holiday break.” – Lee Caldwell
“Don’t underestimate or overestimate yourself because there are things you are capable of doing, but you can’t do everything. Don’t take everything too seriously—you want have good memories from college. Set time aside for fun. It’s okay to drink wine before noon your senior year. Actually, it’s okay to drink wine any time senior spring.” –Selinda Garcia
“Work on building relationships with your professors. Your SIP is not that bad—don’t freak out about it. Don’t ever pay for a Stacks sandwich if you can get an underclassman to pay for it. Steal Stacks sandwiches from underclassmen with unlimited meal plans. Take advantage of the CCPD; they’ll be really helpful in the long run when it comes down to looking for jobs. Spend some time talking to people you don’t know because you never know if you may make a connection with someone you never took a chance with before. Also, get to know your fellow participants on your study abroad program; they could wind up being some of your closest friends. Try to go abroad for your SIP. Go to CAT, and if you don’t know what CAT is, ask somebody.” –Tanj McMeans
“Think about your SIP before you go abroad. If you haven’t had a leadership role, seek it out. They’re really rewarding and help you grow as a person. Take advantage of the resources you have here, not just things like the CCPD, but the people as well. Do what you love. Have fun abroad, you earned it. And if you don’t go abroad, have fun here.”– Melba Sales Griffin
“Don’t do Irish car bombs and drink wine in the same night. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Socialize with your professors outside of the classroom. Don’t forget to thank the people that have helped you along the way.” –Jacob Morden
“Being happy is just as important as your GPA. Even if it feels like the end of the world, it will be okay, and it’ll get better. Sometimes it’s better to just put the book down and go to sleep. Your SIP will end. You will get there. Your friends are the most important things ever, and you will need them.”–Amelia Murray ’12
“I wish I had known more of what was expected of me. Coming from a minority perspective, I didn’t have the same advantages as others. My advice would be, in terms of minorities, just to be more aware of who you are and the differences. Being able to cope with it and learn as you try to move on.”–Maureen Federo ’12
‘Get to know your professors really quickly; go to their office hours. Make goals to drink with your professors. Say ‘no’ to things that you don’t want to do. Know what you want to do, and know what you don’t want to do, and make sure that you can stand up for those things. Take days off. Go do things that are fun, because ‘K’ is just one little place in this world, and there’s so much more to explore. Sometimes when we get wrapped up in our schoolwork, we forget that, and it’s good to remember it all the time.” –Ellen Murphy ’12
“Rather than allowing aspects of the administration to frustrate you in your engagement with the school, and rather than taking a very contrary or combative outlook, try to find a way in which you can work within the system to accomplish things within the system that you can be happy with, and which can effect the campus community in positive ways.” --Pat Gailey ’12
“Figure out what your plans for the summer after your senior year are as early as possible, so that you can negotiate something out with your landlord. It saves you a lot of stress around graduation time trying to move your stuff and figure out where to go.” –Colleen Watt ’12
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