By Athena Skapinakis
Editor-in-Chief

There are many preconceived notions you stuff into your backpack and take with you as you enter your first year of college. One of those is that you will graduate on time in four years. You’re not just embarking on a quest to pursue your degree. You’re following a contorted, twisting and winding path to find the person you are meant to grow into and become.
Freshman year is one of discovery and fantasy. You’ve followed the white rabbit down the hole, and now you’re in a wonderland of research papers, over-priced text books, clubs and organizations, mediocre school spirit, flirtations and romances, parties, procrastination and more Netflix during studying than should be deemed appropriate. Nonetheless, it is a remarkable journey you should make the best of.
Proceed With Caution
“College is definitely a different experience that I thought. I have enjoyed my time finding who and what I want to do with my life,” said Cassie Staats, a 24-year-old criminal justice major.
Staats, who is the president of the Criminal Justice club, also said that she has dealt with students who “seem to be trying to re-live their high school years by being petty and causing drama.” This serves as a reminder that although college is a place for growing up, some may take longer than others. Varying personalities run rampant on college campuses, and there will be some you just can’t mesh well with.
To avoid the drama, just don’t take part in it. While some friends or people play a role in your journey, not every one of them is meant to make it to the end of it. A good rule of thumb to consider is if something or someone still serves a meaningful purpose for you or not, and if the answer is the latter, to just let it go.
Freshmen should also take time before deciding their major instead of switching it several times. Staats suggested waiting until junior year to make the decision.
“You should try different courses and see what classes actually click with your mind, and once you find that class that just clicks take a few more classes in that field and then decide if that is what you truly want to do,” she said.
While you’re here at college to explore and have fun, remember that the most important reason you are here is to graduate and find a career.
Study Your Pants Off
“This isn’t the place to slack off,” said Sequoyah Coodey, a 21-year-old nursing major. Now in his junior year, Coodey volunteers as Community Preventative Health Collaborative where he offers basic health education among other services. Coodey said that he’s seen friends put in hard work to graduate in only three years, and he’s also seen the opposite. Some of his friends took more than five years to finish their degrees. He advises freshmen to put great thought into what they want and then to “go for it as soon as possible.”
He said that college is more or less what he expected. “From a classroom aspect, it’s been hard work and a lot of studying for me in some classes. From a social aspect, campus life is pretty lively at CSUB with all the events we have,” he said.
Do Everything You Can
Monica Guzman, a 21-year-old in her fifth year as a child and adolescent family studies major, spent four years as a part of the cross country and track teams. She said that she felt that her participation in sports has helped her make friends on campus. Because freshmen classes were less difficult than her upper division courses, she found that she had more time for campus activities, and that’s why she “by far loved freshman year.”
There will be several clubs and organizations on campus beckoning you to join. The main recruiters are fraternities or sororities. There is a right fit for every person. It is important to figure out what fits for you and to become involved. College can be the longest four or five years of your life, or it can be the most fun if you make it that way. There is a club for nearly every major, interest or hobby on campus, and it’s up to you to find them out.
“I think I had an idea of how college would be, but every year things changed and so did my perspective,” said Guzman. “I matured, and I felt that my perspective for my education changed as well.”
Change is a normal and inevitable part of your life, especially at this time. You’ll have to roll with many punches and embrace them too. It will all be worth it once you take that walk across stage and receive your diploma.
“Never give up. I know it sounds clichéd, but its’ the truth. Every year you will have new struggles, but every year you will overcome them and in the end you will remember your success and not your struggles,” said Guzman.