Editorial

Time for Change

There’s something unnerving yet exciting about starting a new school year.

For those who are just starting out, get ready for one of the most transformative experiences of your lives…no pressure.

A new school year brings new opportunities for involvement and growth.

It is a chance to be the person you’ve always hoped you’d be, and there is something nerve-wracking but ultimately beautiful in that.

Sure, there’s always the fear of letting yourself down and realizing that maybe you weren’t as good at something as you thought you were.

But the anticipation of new experiences and the idea that maybe this year will be your year, far outweighs the negative, at least, in my opinion.

This school year, there will be challenges for many, including myself.

 I have always been enchanted with the idea that I have another year of school to improve myself.

Having another year to face new challenges, accomplish new goals, and see the growth that I had hoped I would see has been one of the highlights of my time here.

But this year is different; it is different because it is my last one.

As a senior, I am seeing that no longer will I have the same opportunities that this University has given me in the past.

No longer will I be challenged with homework, papers, and managing my time with my involvement in extracurriculars.

Now is my last chance to do those things, and it has made me value it even more. Knowing that this is the last time I will be able to have these experiences at school has pushed me even harder to take on everything I can.

This year, one of my challenges is to be the Editor-In-Chief at The Outlook.

The Outlook has been an incredible source for campus news since 1933, and the stories within it have made lasting changes throughout the years, and has challenged some very difficult issues since its creation.

Taking on the challenge of carrying that tradition is about as daunting as it gets.

So, as difficult as I know it may become, and as nervous as it has made me, I am indebted to having the experience, and I know that when this school year does end, I will have grown in the process.

For those of you just getting the hang of things, it’s okay not to be getting the hang of things.

It’s alright to be nervous, or stressed, or challenged in your time here, because believe it or not, it is changing you.

 It will change you like nothing ever has. My biggest hope at the end of this year is to have made a positive impact on this school, which I love more than anything, in the hopes that it has made a positive change in me.

My advice to you is to take those chances and take advantage of every opportunity you get here, even if it’s difficult.

President John F. Kennedy’s famous moon landing speech tells us that we choose to do things, “not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”

 A large part of attending college is being allowed to fail or fly, and having the resources and the freedom of choice to do both. The time is now and there is no postponing.

Setting those goals, even the impeccably high ones, can enhance your college experience far more than doing the bare minimum can.

Your arrival at this school was a feat in itself.

What you choose to do while you’re here, that’s your moon landing.