Freshman year is where we really begin to define ourselves—our career path, our religion, our values, anything and everything we can think of. We now have immense personal freedom and the ability to be anything we want. I do not mean this in the career-sense (although that is true as well) but in the personal sense. We can be self-less, selfish, caring, studious, responsible, irresponsible, accepting, argumentative or even an alcoholic. The choice is ours. But whatever we choose, we should choose consciously.

The person we choose to be now directly affects our college success. It would be wise to heed to  warning we all heard growing up about not getting mixed in with the wrong crowd. Granted, what group is right for one is not right for another. This is the beauty of college — we have access to a wide array of people, academic groups, environmental groups, Greek life and so many more things to be a part of. And, best of all, as individuals we can choose to involve ourselves with one group, multiple groups or none at all.

But our so-called identity should not be decided by the groups we are in, nor by the people with whom we associate. Rather, who we are (and the person we envision ourselves as being) should dictate the path we take — what we do, who we do it with and why we do it.

Do not be, as Emerson cautioned, the parrot of another’s thinking; think independently. For other men have other values, other interests and other goals — these being the things that will guide us through college. Success over the next four years will be determined by our dedication to our studies, to our associations and to ourselves.