WONDERINGS OF A WALLFLOWER: ADVICE TO MY FORMER SELF

Opinion – The Bengal
Emily Crighton
Editor-in-Chief
Dear eighteen,
If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. There’s a reason people still say this all the time. It’s because it’s true. College is close and graduation is closer. I know you’re equal parts excited and terrified.
You feel obligated to hide the terrified half because so many of your peers cannot wait to get out of the house. This isn’t the last time you’ll feel this way, but you’ll remind yourself of how scary college seemed, as it does now, and that all turned out okay.
College isn’t going to be easy, and I’m not just talking about classwork. In fact, the first year will almost break you…almost. Your high school friend you made big plans with will move in with someone else. Your dad will have a stroke. Your roommates will treat you differently because you drive the 250 miles home almost every weekend to see him in the hospital, and hide in your locked room when you’re there.
New jobs will be scary at first. Along the way, there will be some you find you love and some you never want to do again. You’ll become an asset to your team once you find your niche. You’ll learn to be a leader and that as long as it doesn’t stop you from doing something, fear is okay.
New roommates will become lifelong friends, and don’t worry, you won’t be going to med school. I know you know even now that’s not what you want for yourself, even if you’re not ready to admit it to anyone else.
Mistakes will be made, but you’ll learn from them. Your hard won’t go unnoticed. Never work hard for recognition, though. It will leave ...


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