Take Advantage of Your Time at PSU

              So it’s your first semester at Penn State and you’re having the time of your life. No parents, no rules, all fun, right? As much as I already know how all of that freedom can be overwhelming in the best of ways, I also know the stress of a new environment, new classes, and new friends. However, I want you to cling to that “time of my life” feeling because before you know it, it’ll be gone.

            Before you know it – the mentors and leads you grew to know and love from your WEPO will be graduating and leaving you all alone. The first familiar faces you had walking around campus are starting their fancy new jobs in the real world and your “please don't leave me” puppy face is at a max.

            Before you know it – your freshman and sophomore years will only be a faint memory and your first internship is starting in a week. You’re scared to death, you’re wondering why you majored in engineering, and you’re thinking “marrying rich sounds good, right?”

            Before you know it – it’s your last THON and your last semester as an undergraduate. You’re dancing as hard as you can after being on your feet in those BJC stands for 36 hours. You realize you only have 6 more hours of dancing, 3 more months until graduation, 5 more months until your full-time job, and all you can think is “why didn’t I do ___ when I had the time?”

            SO, it’s your first semester at Penn State. Your first taste of a West cookie, your first brunch in Pollock, your first frat party, your first football game. It’s the first time you climb Mt. Nittany, the first time you tailgate, the first time attending/participating in the Mifflin Streak, your first State Patty’s, and your first taste of Insomnia Cookies, DP Dough, or Wings Over. Your first semester and year at college is definitely a time of firsts. But I want to challenge you: make it four years of firsts, four years of taking advantage of the time you have. Even if it’s your first “two west cookies for dessert,” you won’t regret it. The only thing that will change is that while you’re having a bit of a breakdown at THON realizing how much time you have left, you won’t be wondering what you could have done, but you’ll be happy because it all happened and that “time of your life” feeling still hasn’t gone away.

Micaela Fisher is a junior majoring in Industrial Engineering and is a Mentor for WEPO'16!