By Amy Balagna Posted October 14, 2009
Joining the “in crowd” and wearing the “right clothes” may seem like the world to all the freshmen at Lowry right now. But, what do they really know? They’re freshmen, right? What I’m trying to say is that they need guidance. They need me, to tell them what and what not to do.
A label, a word, an image that sticks with you for four entire years, possibly even longer and the source of oh so many tears, freshman girls are filled with tears. They cry about everything from a zit (it happens; we’re teenagers, stop caking on the make-up please), to their first serious boyfriend or girlfriend. But what the freshmen don’t understand is that there are some labels that you do not want.
Some would call me a nerd, I’m the editor of the paper, not that that’s nerdy, I like to read, and I love, love chemistry. So, if that’s someone’s definition of “nerdy” then I’m all for it. I would much rather be labeled a geek than a “partier” or a “druggie”. I am proud of who I am and who I have become, but freshmen don’t know who they are just yet.
Here’s a hint, getting an MIC or DUI does not make people like you. It makes people glad to say they aren’t you. Freshmen are vulnerable and some think that following the crowd makes you in a way “cool”. And it might be to some people for a short period of time until you start driving people away with the label you’ve given yourself. Is that what you want from your life? A bad reputation? We all have a lot more potential than that.
Freshmen, I am telling you to be who you are. Inside all of us is a musician or an artist or a geek and those are all so much cooler than being a tramp or a druggie.
Don’t be afraid to be who you are and to dream of something bigger. Don’t ruin your lives as freshmen, you have your whole life in front of you.
