By Andrea Brandstetter | Copy Editor|
Not too long ago I thought I would never finish college. Like many young hopefuls I graduated from high school with all of these dreams for my future.
I planned to attend UCR, major in psychology, graduate in four years and make new friends while keeping in touch with old ones.
Well, you know what happens when you’re busy making plans. One word. Life. I did attend UCR for a year as an undeclared major but transferred soon later.
As for the rest of my dreams? They went up in smoke. Old friends left and I forgot about making new ones. Instead of moving forward with my life I mourned for what I had lost.
Before long I was in an emotional and academic wasteland and all I wanted to do was stop. So, in 2007 I took a two year break from school and wanted to find myself but continued to flounder.
Thankfully after a period of reflection and prayer I came back and this time to CSUSB.
It was here that I decided to major in mass communication and write for the Coyote Chronicle. I always knew that I liked to write so I figured I would try to develop that passion.
It was one of the best decisions I ever made; it helped me discover that I wanted to be, a features writer. While I enjoyed some aspects of the college learning experience I found that I was more intellectually stimulated outside the classroom.
I found that while making new friends is hard work sometimes new people come along when you least expect it. There really are teachers and staff you can talk to whether it’s for advice or just to shoot the breeze. And last but not least, I found that a part of me will actually miss this school now that I’m about to leave.
Don’t get me wrong as a 25-year-old “super senior,” I’ll be happy to break free from the monotony of classes, homework, etc.
Maybe I’m just a nostalgist, it’s the little things that I’ll miss. For one, my scenic walks around campus. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, try walking around this place one evening or morning when it’s quiet and the beauty of the mountains, trees and buildings is indescribable.
Second, there’s the Chronicle.
I’ll miss Professor Jim Smart’s weekly witticisms and history lessons, the copy editing on Fridays with Angi Garibay and that freezing cold office. There’s more but I don’t want to overdose on the sentimentalism here.
If there’s any advice that I could give other students, it would be to pay attention in school (if you can), in your relationships and just in life. Remember that learning takes place all around you, not just behind a desk.
And finally, don’t be scared to let go of the past and make new dreams. It may be the hardest thing you ever have to do, but you’ll grow from it in the long term.
Time waits for no one. It moves on even when you’re not ready.
Though I’m about to graduate, a part of me still feels woefully unprepared. The unknown is scary. But as Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
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