Letter of encouragement

By Kate Stringer, Staff Writer stringer14@up.edu

Dear Freshman,

Welcome to the precipice. It's been a long 18 years crossing solid ground but you've finally made it. In the distance you can just make out the far-off land of adulthood. The four year span of no-man's land in between? College.

I remember making the terrifying jump into the unknown two years ago with unanswered questions bombarding my frazzled freshman brain: Was I the only college student who cried when her parents drove away? Were my professors really belligerent vampires who would fail me before I walked into class? Why were strange men in purple kilts running around outside my window?

Being told to jump before you've been taught how to fly is a tall order for most of us and yet understandably exciting. I'm writing this letter to let you know that you will not fall. Why? Because you are a Portland Pilot! However, before you leave, allow me to impart a few words of wisdom to ease your anxieties.

Newsflash: you were not the only college student who cried, and if you have yet to shed the tears, fear not - they will come. Don't listen to the people who say they never get homesick because it's just not true. For some people, it hits them in the first five minutes; for others, it takes a good five weeks. The bottom line is that when it happens, don't feel embarrassed or weak. You've just left the only home you've ever known; it's alright to be nostalgic. Your new friends are more than understanding, as are your wonderful RA's who are willing to talk to you about anything.

The professors at University of Portland are not belligerent vampires. In fact, they are some of the most interesting and caring people I know and they are just waiting for you to come in to office hours and ask for help when you're confused. I've pestered my own professors with emails and visits to discuss everything from the Krebs Cycle to the literary merits of Harry Potter. Additionally, don't wait until the day before the exam to go in for help. Go in when you're confused so you don't end up in tears the night before your chemistry midterm trying to drown your sorrows in funfetti frosting.

However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't spoon feed yourself frosting the night before an exam. In fact, I highly recommend it. College is the fine line between chaos and control, and the more you learn how to balance the two, the happier you will be. Make food experiments in your microwave (I recommend potato chips with mozzarella cheese) or go midnight puddle jumping with your dorm floor. I think you'll find the most meaningful experiences come from joining the activities you wouldn't originally do.

So why is this chaos important, you might ask? I hope I speak for my fellow upperclassmen when I say that we used the chaos to find ourselves. I begrudgingly entered the eighth floor of Mehling, determined that I would be isolated from the world for a year, yet I came away with some of my closest friends. I came to UP as a determined nursing student only to get homesick for novels and essays and switch my major to English.

You don't need your life planned out; you need to have faith that when you leap into the chaos, you won't fall. Don't fear the abyss. Go ahead and jump.