hope0126
Registered: July 2009
City/Town/Province: Las Vegas
Posts: 1
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College. This simple word inspires excitement and utter terror in the minds of all prospective university students, whether they are willing to admit it or not. The joy of finally having freedom and control over your own life and, at the same time, fear that it will not turn out exactly how we had planned. Walking onto campus we feel the pressure to succeed in our classes, make friends, contribute to our college community outside the classroom and, on top of all that, find our passion in life so that we may continue to serve our country after receiving a diploma. Though I was once told that college was the time to find the people you truly belong with and make those lifelong friendships, this new environment was even more daunting than I had expected and chances of succeeding in that endeavor seemed slim. With all this weight upon my shoulders, even now I find it shocking to be able to admit that I covered two of these bases within my first month at college (all while wearing bright orange vests, if you can imagine).
Being a more soft-spoken individual, all the honors program luncheons and “meet and greets” in the world could not quite break me out of my shell. However, when there was talk of getting together for a community service project, something that I was used to participating in from my high school days, I jumped at the chance and decided to give college life a try. Collaboratively, we decided to organize a trash pickup around campus with many individuals from the honors program. Who would have expected that in the cool fall air, surrounded by leaves and scattered candy bar wrappers and plastic bottles, I would find “my people”? It turns out that those friendships and kindred spirits do exist. With each hour of laughing and picking up trash along our campus I began to feel more comfortable, not only with those around me, but with myself, knowing that I was growing as a person and helping my community from within.
To this day, though I know each and every one of us in the honors program has done our part to improve our campus and city, I would like to think that the internal development I have had will be the most enduring change. To help the world we must each start from within. Whether that means finding out who you are first in order to best help those around you, or starting by improving your own community before moving on to aid mankind as a whole, each will leave an indelible mark on society. Now, looking back on my first year of college, I can successfully say that I have made friends, contributed to my college community outside the classroom and, dare I say, with every second spent loving the fact that I am able to positively impact my community and improve the environment, I am discovering my true passion in life as well!
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