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Passing the Torch: Advice to the Underclassmen

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Danica Ramsey-Brimberg
Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Caitlin Mann
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at BC chapter.

Dear Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen,

While we could give you a physical gift, like a bench or a plaque, we want to give you something much more valuable, knowledge.  We have collected our various thoughts and have put them together for you.  Here is a list of the advice that we have gathered over the years and would like to share with you.

 

General Advice:

  1. Find something you’re passionate about and give it your all.
  2. Do not be afraid to change majors and explore new options!
  3. Don’t close yourself off to the possibility of getting into a relationship in college.  If someone comes along that you enjoy being around and they feel the same way, don’t just brush off the opportunity because you are in college.  Try it out.  Odds are that they won’t be your soul mate, but you’ll learn a lot about yourself.
  4. Put your name into the lottery system for Kairos!
  5.  Don’t stress yourself about the social scene on campus—missing out on a night at MA’s is really just not a big deal.
  6. Try to write a thesis if you can.  Working on it can be seriously stressful and awful, but it’s really awesome to have a project that you’re really proud of in the end.
  7. GO ABROAD.
  8. If you can, go abroad for the year.  I was just beginning to learn where things were by the end of the first semester; second semester allowed me to explore and to discover new things about where I was studying.
  9. Take risks, and take them now.  Tell people how you feel.  Audition for a show.  Ask a professor out to coffee.  You have nothing to lose by taking a chance on these things.  You might be pleasantly surprised!
  10. Meet new people.
  11. Be a lone wolf sometimes.
  12. Try your hand at being vulnerable by taking a risk.
  13. Try anything first before you decide you don’t like it.
  14. TRY TRY TRY TRY TRY new things!  No one judges (and if they do, forget them), and this is the PERFECT time to EXPLORE!
  15. Get to know your professors!!
  16. Take classes outside of your main discipline of study.
  17. Be good to your friends and develop close relationships.
  18. Take advantage of any opportunity, whether it’s academic or social—go to every event.
  19. Take advantage of all the opportunities BC offers: amazing speakers, fulfilling service trips, research jobs, etc.
  20. Do what you want; just because you think everyone else is doing something, doesn’t mean they are.  There are so many people on this campus.  Don’t assume that what you see is the whole picture because it’s usually not.

 

Things We Wish We Had Done:

  1. Cherish every moment; as a senior, I wish I had done that more.
  2. Established more relationships with professors.
  3. Started making connections with faculty and administrators earlier.
  4. Become a little more involved with things on campus (i.e. audition for a dance group and apply for Arrupe).
  5. Gotten to know at least one professor better (getting there).
  6. Forgave my family and myself earlier.
  7. Brought more friends home.
  8. Brought a coffee maker.
  9. Gotten more involved (on everything and anything)!
  10. Gone to more talks.
  11. Explored all my options, and found out great programs in which I could have been a part.
  12. Developed a close relationship with a professor.
  13. Had more school spirit.
  14. Joined more “social” clubs my freshman year (Appa trip, sports clubs, singing group, etc.) to have lots of friends from different activities (not just one core group).
  15. Taken risks.

 

Things We Wish We Hadn’t Done:

  1. Compared myself to my peers.  It was a waste of time.
  2. Based self-perception on others’ perception of me.
  3. Became so focused on what people thought of me here.
  4. Worried about things that don’t really matter (who’s hooking up with who, drinking, etc.).
  5. Gotten distracted by easy hookups rather than sincerely looking for a girl to love and be loved by (don’t wait till senior week).
  6. Gotten in trouble for defending myself. #openhandstrikes
  7. Stopped playing my club sport to hold a part time job. #excuses
  8. Taken probability theory or theatre.
  9. Limited myself to my “core group” of friends.  Those friendships were meaningful and great, but it would have been nice to know lots of people.
  10. Been afraid of rejection or failure.

 

Please take these words to heart, and do not forget them.  Sir Francis Bacon once said, “Knowledge is power.”  Use these words wisely.  We pass the torch onto you and leave BC in your hands. Take care of it.

Love,

          The Senior Class

 

 

Source:

The Class of 2013

 

Images:

http://www.mememaker.net

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/2373/goforthandsettheworldon.jpg

http://www.keepcalmandcarryon.com/creator/

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Danica is a senior at Boston College and is a History major with an Irish Studies minor.  She is originally from Greenwich, CT and moved to East Boothbay, ME.  She is also a member of Boston College Irish Dance and the Shaw Leadership Program.  And last but not least is a fiery redhead who lives in a dragon-guarded castle surrounded by a boiling lake of lava! But don't let that cool you off. She's a loaded pistol who likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain. Yours for the rescuing: Princess Danica!  (And yes, that is a quote from Shrek...)
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Caitlin is currently a student at Boston College studying English and Pre-Law.  At BC, she is a member of the Boston College Irish Dance Club, on the Honors Program Student Executive Board's Community Service Committee, and interns and writes for the fashion and culture blog Rusted Revolution.  She has been wriring for Her Campus BC since Jaunary 2011 and is serving as BC's Campus Correspondent for the 2012-2013 school year.  Outside of school, she is a competitive Irish dancer, and has been dancing for 18 years. During her high school career, she completed an engineering project at Case Western Reserve University that made her one of 40 Intel Science Talent Search Finalists in 2009.   In addition to all of this, Caitlin loves reading, yoga, running, shopping, spending time with friends and family, and traveling.