No, no, Glen Coco: What not to do as a freshman on a college campus
[Columns, letters or cartoons published are the work of the attributed author and do not necessarily represent the official views or opinions of “The Highland Echo.”]
We’re almost there!
Only a couple more weeks left of school, and then it’s off to internships and camps and various fast food jobs to fill up time this summer and stuff our resumes. It’s kind of exhilarating to think that this year is almost over, and we are that much closer to being degree-holding, professionals, who, in all honesty, may not know what they’re doing, but make money and live a satisfying and fulfilling life!
That being said, I know I’m not the only one who wishes we could relive spring break again this week. Everyone has assignments piling up, exams left and right and roommate selection stress spilling out every pore, so of course, we would all like to take another week off.
Having just gotten off the break, I have two pieces of advice this column: do not brag about your spring break, and do not complain about the work you have to do now that it’s over.
It’s true, pretty much every person’s spring break was amazing, purely given the fact that it was a break at all! Don’t get me wrong. I really did miss Ahmed Abdelrahman’s quirky personality and Jeff Bay’s math jokes, but I wasn’t too heartbroken about not seeing German grammatical rules and regression analysis problems when I woke up in the morning.
But this is also true: some people had more adventurous breaks than others. And if you were the lucky gem to get to travel to the outer districts of Madagascar for rainforest exploration and take bull rides in Mexico under the gorgeous sunset, please do not brag about it.
We are all so excited that you were able to have those opportunities! Really! But I would rather hear you talk about your break humbly and graciously so that both you and the experiences are more appealing.
Plus, it’s simply not fair for the people who spent the week sleeping in the gaping hole of the broken pullout couch in their grandmother’s basement or job hunting to proactively plan for their summers. Even worse, some people can’t remember their Spring Breaks because they spent the time drunk and blacked out. So, please think of the less fortunate and be grateful for the time that you had and be humble about your narration of that time.
Not much matters about the grand time you had on break now. It is, as Vandy Kemp recently warned all the freshman students’ parents, crunch time. The year is winding down, preparations are being made for next year’s schedule, and there isn’t much opportunity to cram in new material. Especially with so many people just clamoring to get out for summer. I assure you that everyone has a lot to do and I can only speak for freshmen!
The workload can only increase from here. So don’t spend your time complaining about it. Spend your time actually doing it! Now, there’s no harm in bonding over your excessive amount of work. Heck, discussing research topics makes for excellent lunchtime conversations with people you still haven’t quite gotten the chance to know yet.
However, there is a huge difference between bonding and complaining, and I hope that I speak for everyone when I say please do not complain.
There is nothing that stresses people out more than taking on other people’s burdens. Please keep in mind that I am not downplaying the importance of talking out your problems, but Bruce Holt can give you far better advice and sympathy than anyone you run into during the day.
Too much complaining, and we will all go crazy before the next break.