The extra year is one of reflection
Branden Stephens
Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: OP/ED
In my fifth and final year of college at LSUS, I can truly say that I have been here long enough to learn the ins and outs of not only LSUS, but college life in general. It seems like just yesterday I was transferring here from Xavier University in Fall 2005.
Where I am now is a big step forward from where I was then. After being shifted from New Orleans to Northern Louisiana without a moment's notice, I learned that by taking small steps, I would eventually learn to adapt to how things were done here. I see this final year and last two classes as being a period of reflection and understanding.
I sometimes kick back, rest my feet on the table and think of some of the things I did back in my freshman and sophomore years of college. They may seem both trivial and wise at different times, but me being me, I would never want to change a thing. I am at the precipice of accomplishing my goal in May, and that is all that matters. The beauty of my last semester is my level of personal freedom. With the majority of my classes completed and taken care of, college life can be handled the Frank Sinatra way: my way. I'm not going to say college is a cakewalk for me, because I can never forget the road I took to get here, but life is pretty good right about now.
I don't have the drama of having to deal with the final 15 or 18 hours of classes or wonder if I should go the X-Y-Z route to ensure that I walk across that stage. The job market will hopefully be looking better in May 2010 than it was in May 2009. I have more time to put together my game plan as to what it is that I want to do when I graduate. Some students can become caught up in completing their classes and maintaining a social life, and they never get a chance to sit down and map out what it is that they want to do.
I look at the younger students' actions and behaviors, and I become perplexed and amazed at how I no longer exhibit those behaviors. I went from being in a professor's office, asking him what I could do for extra credit, to casually talking with my instructors about the Saints game on Sunday or when they think the economy is going to bounce back as we walk to the parking lot. I went from being an avid member of the American Marketing Association to eventually running it. The kicker is that I never noticed the gradual change in my personality. I guess that's what I like most about it.
I assume from other students who have done or are doing the same as me, that I am a part of a nation-wide trend in students doing extra time before going into the "real world." So you can label me a statistic. I don't mind. I bear the title willingly. It is what it is folks. I was able to live it and learn from it, and that holds its weight in gold.
Where I am now is a big step forward from where I was then. After being shifted from New Orleans to Northern Louisiana without a moment's notice, I learned that by taking small steps, I would eventually learn to adapt to how things were done here. I see this final year and last two classes as being a period of reflection and understanding.
I sometimes kick back, rest my feet on the table and think of some of the things I did back in my freshman and sophomore years of college. They may seem both trivial and wise at different times, but me being me, I would never want to change a thing. I am at the precipice of accomplishing my goal in May, and that is all that matters. The beauty of my last semester is my level of personal freedom. With the majority of my classes completed and taken care of, college life can be handled the Frank Sinatra way: my way. I'm not going to say college is a cakewalk for me, because I can never forget the road I took to get here, but life is pretty good right about now.
I don't have the drama of having to deal with the final 15 or 18 hours of classes or wonder if I should go the X-Y-Z route to ensure that I walk across that stage. The job market will hopefully be looking better in May 2010 than it was in May 2009. I have more time to put together my game plan as to what it is that I want to do when I graduate. Some students can become caught up in completing their classes and maintaining a social life, and they never get a chance to sit down and map out what it is that they want to do.
I look at the younger students' actions and behaviors, and I become perplexed and amazed at how I no longer exhibit those behaviors. I went from being in a professor's office, asking him what I could do for extra credit, to casually talking with my instructors about the Saints game on Sunday or when they think the economy is going to bounce back as we walk to the parking lot. I went from being an avid member of the American Marketing Association to eventually running it. The kicker is that I never noticed the gradual change in my personality. I guess that's what I like most about it.
I assume from other students who have done or are doing the same as me, that I am a part of a nation-wide trend in students doing extra time before going into the "real world." So you can label me a statistic. I don't mind. I bear the title willingly. It is what it is folks. I was able to live it and learn from it, and that holds its weight in gold.
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