It’s an experience

The start of a new semester means a fresh start and a new adventure.

With the new beginning comes the stress of moving in, buying books, printing schedules, finding buildings, and adjusting to life in a different place. It is not necessarily an easy adjustment to make and for some people it’s flat out terrible.

College is not for everyone and I can promise that your classes will be more difficult than they were in high school. You will actually have to study, unless you’re a genius, and your time-management skills will be challenged. There will be a few bumps in the road, but that is just life in general.

As much work as it is, college life is a blast and most adults will tell you they wish they were still young and in school again. You will have the opportunity to meet so many new people and do new things that you may never have done before. You can join a club sports team or other student group and interact with other people your age who share your interests. If Ferris does not have a single group that garners your attention, you can start your own group.

You can go to bed whenever you want and eat whatever you want. I am not advocating staying up until 3 a.m. and eating pizza every day, but it’s your choice. No one is going to hold your hand and coddle you anymore. This is adulthood and you are responsible for your own actions.

Life on the couch is a boring one. Get out there and experience everything that Ferris State and Big Rapids have to offer. Expand your comfort zone and you just may be surprised to find just how much there is to do around here. Go tubing down the Muskegon River or play a round of disk golf at Northend Riverside Park. I thought racquetball was a boring game played by old people, but it is actually fun and it is a great workout.

This experience will be what you make it to be. You won’t be in college forever, so take advantage of every minute and soak it all in. It may seem like the years will drag by, but four years disappears in the blink of an eye. Take each day as it comes and never pass up the opportunity to make a memory. n