As the final photo went up on my Lawrinson Hall dorm room wall, I slowly turned towards my parents, knowing the moment I had been dreading for months had finally arrived. My father quickly pulled me into a hug and started crying, just as I did when he dropped me off at preschool for the first time.

With damp eyelashes and a quivering lip, my father told me the most valuable advice for anyone in my position in life. “Julia,” he pronounced steadily amidst his emotional state, “I don’t want you to only focus on your studies in college. Yes, that is very important. But much more importantly, college is about gaining confidence and independence. It is about growing into the type of person that you have always wanted to become,” he said.

The Syracuse University Class of 2025 is made up of writers and poets, chemists and astronomers. There are those in the Renée Crown Honors Program, and those who will soon be conducting their own research alongside SU professors. So much more than that, the Class of 2025 is made up of young and impressionable minds. The students in the Class of 2025 can either be completely goal-oriented, or they can embrace the possibilities of their unique environment.

SU freshmen should be looking to achieve the latter. They should be learning how to properly deal with a disagreement with a roommate. They should be figuring out how to balance their social life with their academic career, while still making time for their hobbies. They should be practicing eating alone in a dining hall or going shopping for clothes without the advice of others. College is too often mistaken as a stepping stone to a career. In reality, its true value lies in how it can shape students into independent and mature adults.

The students in the Class of 2025 are falling face-first into a world where many of the circumstances they are familiar with have suddenly changed. During this time, it is important to remember that failure is simply a part of growing up. Yes, there will be times when students will not be able to grasp a calculus concept in front of them, or when a midterm does not go as expected, but that is absolutely OK. Failure is a great thing. In failing, students have the power to evaluate their shortcomings and use that knowledge to better themselves as people. By stepping out of the academic tunnel vision that many people fall victim to, students can learn from every experience in college — inside a classroom or not. 

At SU, students have the privilege of living in a diverse and dynamic city. At every corner, there is a new person to meet. Each holds their own knowledge and different experiences from their upbringing. A simple “hello” in a new environment can lead to a strong connection with someone that a student would have otherwise never met. A book titled “Consequential Strangers: The Power of People Who Don’t Seem to Matter … But Really Do” by Melinda Blau and Karen L. Fingerman speaks on how powerful meeting strangers really is. 

“(Strangers) are as vital to our well-being, growth and day-to-day existence as family and close friends,” Blau and Fingerman wrote. SU freshmen should keep this in mind while walking through the streets surrounding campus (with caution and common sense, of course).

College lends a gift of a new home. It is wrapped up in a myriad of majors and classes to choose from. But that is merely the wrapping paper, the outside appearance. Inside this gift lies something much more valuable. If approached with the right guidance, college can turn naive kids into strong-willed, confident members of society. After all, wrapping paper, more often than not, gets thrown away and forgotten. In the end, all that is left is the gift of growing up, and that is a priceless gift that lasts forever.

Julia Kahen is a freshmen news, magazine, and digital journalism and political science dual major. Her column appears biweekly. She can be reached at jskahen@syr.edu.

Published on August 30, 2021 at 10:22 pm