For many students, the beginning of a new school year can be bittersweet, signifying the sun setting with summer, and another academic chapter starting back up again for the next several months. However, despite summer playing its swan song, a new beginning to a school year arrives with its bigger picture, a new beginning.
The beauty of having something that is “new” is the synonymous feelings that come along with it. Something that feels “fresh” or “clean” or, the perspective that you (and in most cases only you) can determine what direction your new clean slate can build into.
I remember during one of my first days of freshman year at Portland State University, my professor for my core class (a general studies class that was mandatory for all freshmen to take) gave a brief speech to the students in his class. Before handing us the syllabus overviewing the units/topics for the term, he began his speech by saying, “College is a game. What’s the objective of the game? Simple. The objective is to get your degree, but how you get there is up to you.” He explained furthermore how college, along with other times in your life, is what you make of it. For some reason, in that moment, I realized that I could use the beginning of my college career to set the tone and have it be different than my high school career. I knew what the objective was of “the game,” but how could I make the most of it while staying on track?
In high school, I was involved in little to no extracurricular activities, except for when the school’s band would play during sports events (I played percussion in band and same goes during the sports events). Aside from occasionally playing with the band at the sports events, I would wake up, get ready for school, be at school, and then come right back home. Even during lunchtime, I would eat my lunch in a classroom near one of the teacher’s lounges since I did not see the point in going off campus for lunch or spending my limited time with other students since I knew I would see them in class after lunch anyway. I wanted my college experience to be different after hearing my professor speak.
So, I began building this difference by simply exploring. With the clean slate I mentioned, I explored pretty much everything that a college freshman could explore. The campus, neighborhoods around the campus, different student clubs, etc. Soon enough, not long into my freshman year, my trajectory was already way different than what it was in high school, resulting in more self-sufficiency via discovery, an improved social life, and improved self-confidence. These benefits did not just happen at the beginning of freshman year, they happened every school year, every week within a term, or even every day. I would say it can even go beyond college and into daily life if you really wanted to.
Yes, exploring can be nerve-racking to some. But again, what you build and how you build it is up to you. My mentality and a few takeaways for always wanting to build onward were simple. Having an “I got places to be and things to do” mindset helped a lot. In other words, setting goals and going after them head on did wonders. I wanted to be different than in high school, and I wanted to get my degree; that was a good chunk of my motivation at the time.
But the only way that all of this worked are my other two takeaways. Having a clean slate/a new beginning means you have time to ask questions, and room to make mistakes. There isn’t one person in the world who knows every single little thing about life. Therefore, no one expects you, especially as a student, to know everything. That’s why you’re a student; you’re supposed to learn.
Nor does anyone expect you to be perfect. Statistically, there is a chance that perfection will happen on the first try. But there is a greater chance that it (whatever “it” is) won’t. That’s perfectly okay. Michael Jordan got cut from his high school basketball team. But that did not stop him from becoming a solid college basketball player, and arguably one of the best professional basketball players of all time.
Explore to build. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to fail. If there are any other takeaways that you receive from a fresh start or a new beginning, then that’s great. Not only are you closer to winning whatever game you’re playing, you’ll ace the game that becomes yours.
About the author
JD Duran is the Communications Manager for INCIGHT and a former recipient of the organization’s scholarship program. JD is also the Founder & CEO of a digital marketing business, Create Everyday PDX, and spends his free time as an online content creator and competitive adaptive athlete cross training between Wheelchair Racing and Wheelchair Rugby.
