Student encourages freshmen to stop and “smell the freaking roses”

My first weeks at St. Edward’s consisted of me going to class, grabbing food from Hunt and then barricading myself in my dorm room. I had been feeling a bit homesick; I missed my friends from home, I missed having my own room, I missed my dog. I even missed my parents, two people who were constantly told I could not wait to live on my own. I expected living on my own in a city like Austin to result in some sort of fast-life, where I would live to the fullest, go out and smell the roses.

Unfortunately, the reality of my fast-life resulted in binge watching Netflix and ordering pizza, which only leads to one thing: the God-awful freshman fifteen. I will admit though, in the beginning it was nice sitting in my room, not having to worry about socializing. But when your clothes start to fit tight and the smell of pizza starts to make you sick, that’s life’s way of saying “It’s time.”

And thus, begins your journey of making new friends in college.

For those of you who live on campus, I encourage you to try not to spend a lot of time in your dorm room. Go to the events held by your RA’s, hang out in the common area!

One day I was passing by the lounge and I overheard a group watching “Harry Potter.” Long story short: I decided to join them and that group of people ended up becoming some of my closest friends, one is even my roommate this year. I understand that approaching new people might be intimidating, but I encourage you to try it; you might just find your group of friends that way.

But if the dorms aren’t your forte for meeting new people, then that’s okay. There’s always on campus organizations and clubs that are offered to both commuters and residents.

If you enjoy service work, there’s clubs such as Circle K that meets on Monday and S.E.R.V.E. 1 Day with Campus Ministry. If you’re interested in the arts, there’s clubs such as TopperTV, Topper Radio, Box of Chocolates: An Improv Group, New Literati and HilltopViews. St. Edward’s also offers various sports clubs and intramural sports, such as lacrosse, soccer, volleyball and ultimate frisbee through campus recreation. There’s also various clubs that are based off of majors such as the Forensics Club, Psych club, the Mathematics Club, Pre-Dental, Pre-Law, Global Studies and the French club. And if you’re looking for a club that gives you a sense of unity within a community, there’s the League of United Latin American Citizens, The Black Student Alliance, Latino Student Leaders Organization and more.

My final piece of advice that I offer to you, first year students, is to go out there and smell the freaking roses. Netflix and pizza will always be there, but your first year on the Hilltop won’t.