Listen closely.
Do you hear that noise?
It sounds like glass breaking.
What is that?
I know. That noise is the sound of broken dreams.
We have come to that time of year again, when Ohio University freshmen finally realize what they've gotten themselves into.
Two weeks before final exams, the workload is peaking, the weather is crummy and the stress is enough to break anyone without a strong will.
This year's freshmen arrived in September still high on the idealistic praise of their high school guidance counselors. Graduating high school meant it was time to Seize the Day and Aim High and Go for the Gold and all that crap.
Problem is, freshmen, you believed it. We all did. But where are your guidance counselors now? They have forgotten about you.
As you sit in your tiny dorm room with the flickering fluorescent light at 4 a.m., working on a 10-page paper that's due the next day, your mind spins.
Three-hundred-seat lecture halls.
Switched majors.
Closed-out classes.
Books that cost $100 each.
This is college, and you've only lived through one quarter. You have to do this 11 more times, assuming you have survived so far.
And guess what? It doesn't get any easier. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but fall quarter freshman year is the easiest you'll have.
It's enough to make you cry, huh?
Or drink yourself silly.
Wide-eyed and naive, you wondered when you came here why all the upperclassmen looked so drunk and disillusioned. Now you know. Reality had set in for them long before.
All those people who congratulated you after high school and gave you advice before you came here are nowhere to be found now. You didn't need any of that advice then, but you need it now.
Sadly though, there is little I can say to put your heart at ease. I have painted a dreary picture of the quest for a college degree, and it's accurate.
In the effort to improve your future, you must realize and accept that you are sacrificing your present. You will be broke for four years. You will live in a crap hole (be it dorm or off-campus) for four years. You will read, write and study more in these four years than you could even fathom in high school.
The only hope is to come out on the other side a strong, driven, battle-tested person.
Until then, however, all you have is your social life. For the love of God, party as hard as you can for the next four years. Now is your only chance.
Wait. Do you hear that noise?
It sounds like glass breaking.
I know. It's the weekend coming. Tomorrow is Friday. It's that time of week again; when we can all forget for two days that we're stuck here for four years.
Make the most of it. It will be over before you know it.
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17 Archives
Joe Rominiecki
