If you’re comfortable, you’re doing GW wrong.
If you’re not nervous – or at least sufficiently freaked out – about Colonial Inauguration, move-in or figuring out how to mold the next four years, chances are you are safe and sound inside your comfort zone.
And that’s a shame.
College is about finding what makes you tick. And if you don’t take some chances, you might not stumble into something you really love.
As a freshman at CI, I was a little uneasy about walking into The Hatchet’s office for an open house, and when I convinced myself to attend, I got nervous about talking to older editors.
I didn’t know what section I wanted to write for. I didn’t know if I could learn how to maneuver a camera and start snapping photos, but thankfully for this paper – and your eyes – I didn’t.
But that visit proved that some of the best things in life stem from the times when you go out on a limb to do something you have not tried or fully planned out. I tried my hand at journalism and it clicked. Now, the thought of spending my life doing anything else – trust me, I have tried – makes me cringe.
My freshman year, I signed up for my fair share of random student organizations and landed an inbox full of spam. And some still won’t take me off their listservs, no matter how many times I ask.
That’s fine, though, because at least now I know they weren’t my thing.
Do yourself some favors. Talk to weird people. Take a funky class. Sign up for an activity you have always wanted to try but never got a chance to.
Don’t let college become part two of high school. Let go.
Priya Anand, a senior majoring in international affairs, is The Hatchet's editor in chief.
