Anderson Is The One!

Making the most of college while it lasts

By Ryan Gilbert
Associate Commentary Editor

Published: Thursday, August 25, 2011
Updated: Thursday, August 25, 2011 20:08

I knew this would be my last summer, at least as I'd always known them. Sleeping in late, going to the movies every weekend, spending too much of the too scarce money I've earned on snack food, clothes and magazines and just daydreaming about what life will be like while lying on the beach or next to the pool.

I knew I'd never again be in this bizarre but comfortable and safe limbo between college and the "real world." I believe the rest of the world knew this too. How else can you explain TeenNick's "The ‘90s Are All That" programming block or "X-Men: First Class" or the New Kids On The Block being on tour with the Backstreet Boys.

It's true that I've been reveling in nostalgia this summer and perhaps being too doomsday-ish about entering my final year at UConn. But how could you blame me? The New York Times and CNN are routinely reminding us that there aren't any jobs, the economy is in the toilet, our politicians are corrupt and, worst of all, our education might not even be worth the money we're spending on it. (For the record, I think that last part is a bunch of bull. Yet, entrepreneur Peter Thiel recently started a new initiative that will offer grants of up to $100,000 for kids to drop out of school, so it's a debate that's really happening.)

I know that come May 2012, my little world – with my friends and my freedom to spend my money however I want and my forgiveness for being lazy – will come to a screeching halt and will never be the same. Some of us will move far away. Some of us will stay but will be too busy and even more broke. Some of us will just fall out of touch. Some of us will make new friends with new interests. Some of us will succeed, and some of us will fail. Some of us will fall truly, madly, deeply in love and some of us, well, just won't. Some of us will look back on this time that we've had and consider it the best time of our lives, and some of us are still waiting to experience that.

Being a freshman in college is an opportunity to prove what you can do, not to your family or your friends or even your professors, but to yourself. There is absolutely nothing else like college, and it can be magical if you take advantage of everything it has to offer and challenge yourself. College is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people like Peter Thiel allow themselves to be so mocking and disparaging about it. You're going to hear a lot about the "system" of college and the "politics" of higher education and how it doesn't do enough to set you up for the "real world" and about how everyone on this campus is "out of touch" and blah blah blah. Let me be the first to tell you: don't become cynical.

UConn isn't perfect, but neither are you, so two should be able to get on famously. To the freshmen: these next four years are going to be what you make of them. Enroll in courses that seem demanding and are taught by professors you've heard horror stories about. Screw RateMyProfessors.com. Join clubs and organizations that interest you and provide you with opportunities to grow and make friends. Read and write as much as you physically can. Make lots and lots of stupid mistakes and laugh about them with your friends over pitchers of…um…iced tea. Find the places on campus that make you feel comfortable and where you can get your work done. Don't use the Art & Design library in Homer Babbidge because that's my spot. Find your own. The dining halls! Take advantage of the dining halls. The only equivalent to these in the "real world" are soup kitchens and you're going to want to avoid those unless you're volunteering at them. Be nice to somebody every single day. I'm serious.

And, finally, to the seniors: let's make it count.