Dear College Freshmen

Whoever said high school was the best four years of your life never went to college, or so Mr. Swank said. It must be heart-shattering to hear that, considering your departure from senior year, “the best year of your life,” but trust me, high school was not life. It may have seemed like the center of universe, but if anything, high school was a teenage soap opera. There’s more to high school. Life only gets better.

Welcome to this transition from your bubbled high school days to the real world.
Welcome to college.

Let me define college: it is not considered taking collegiate courses as a high school student, or going to a JC like Foothill or De Anza. Nor is it defined as going to a university and living at home. Apologies to those that I may offend with my definition, but truthfully, it's all about moving away, getting out of your comfort zone and seeing what THE WORLD HAS TO OFFER.

College isn’t for everyone (academically and financially speaking), yet it seems everyone should go to college (thinking merely of the experience).

Tom Petty puts it the best, “You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does...”

My sister calls going to college a type of “balancing” act. Go ahead and have fun (as Tom Petty so eloquently put it), but don’t forget to get that education. This is perhaps your last chance to study hard (or hardly study?) while someone else foots the bill. To put it bluntly—don’t fuck up and flunk out.

College is more than one big party. It’s an opportunity to attain some higher-level education. Don’t you hope to have an intellectual conversation about the filial piety issues in Asian-American families with someone other than your professor? Oh, and don’t forget about getting that coveted college degree. Getting a degree is the modern high school diploma—it’s that essential.

Cherish this opportunity. It’ll be hard, but I believe you have what to takes to succeed (otherwise, how did you get to college?). However, after numerous rounds of midterms and finals, you’ll be so sick of school. Perhaps you’ll feel ambitious enough to quit school and take on a job full-time. And by the time you work your first month of 40-hour weeks, you’ll be begging for those school days.

Appreciate your student status, versus that of an employee in the real world. Students possess the ability to ditch class for the pool or an on-campus concert, but irresponsible employees who act the same can kiss their job good-bye. You can mess up on a midterm, but you can’t mess up on an important project at work.

So sit back, take a shot, and read that chapter of PoliSci. A great adventure awaits you.

SOPHOMORES (and older), don’t you agree?