New semester

Today is the first day of classes for the new semester. This is always exciting and potentially nerve-wracking. Will the classes be difficult? Can the ratemyprofessor ratings be trusted? Will I make any friends? Will I have any kind of a social life? All these questions are swirling through our heads as we navigate the parking lots, push through the crowded campus grounds, try to find our classrooms, take a seat (not too far up, not too far back), and try to calculate how much time we'll have to study for this class's tests. A large amount of things to pay attention to for the first day.

But, somehow, we get through it. We always do. By the beginning of the second week, routine has settled in. Listen to the lecture, take notes, study the texts for the relevant bits that will be on the test. Keep it up for sixteen weeks. The time seems to trudge along slowly and yet those darn tests always seem to zoom up on us before we know it. How can time be so flexible?

Is it all worth it? Statistics show that college graduates earn more money over their lifetime than non-college graduates, and most jobs of any significance require a degree as a minimum requirement. Regardless of our concerns about the economic future of the country, we must press on, trusting that college is our investment in ourselves. We may belong to a generation that is inheriting an increasingly unstable world, but if we are to make any impact, education is our first step. Let this thought be our guiding principle through this semester.

Peace,

Dave Roel.

All that matters is what we do for each other.

- Lewis Carroll