Spring Break
Column: Writing from home
Live, Laugh, Love
Chloe Thompson
Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: Editorial/Opinion
04/29/09 - Sure, the squirrels have nearly run over my feet several times. I've locked myself out of dorm rooms, lost my student ID nearly seven times and thought I could survive a rainy day with too-long pants and flip-flops (Hint: You cannot.)
But with all the chagrin the past four years at the University of Rhode Island may have brought me, I am still that cheesy, vomit-inducing romantic that will look fondly back on these years.
They say high school flies by, but I still remember being a sleepy little freshman sitting in Professor John Pantalone's URI 101 class, across the room from people who would become some of my best friends, wondering how the hell I would get through the next four years.
Of course, now I'm sitting here wondering where the past four years went. And as I sit, less than 20 days to commencement, I feel it only necessary to reminisce through my favorite forté: writing. So here's what I think you should know, and do, before you're in the same boat. ...er ... chair, as me.
1. Find something you love.
I'm serious. I've known my game plan since I was 13-years-old flipping through American Girl Magazine, but not everyone finds their passions right away. It took me until junior year to solidify what I want to spend my life writing about, and without my years here, I never would have realized it. And if someone tries to deter you...
2. Don't let the bad guys bring you down.
Or the bad girls, to each his or her own. A friend said to me recently not to let anyone tell me that I can't do something, because I could (short of acquiring Harry Potter-like powers, I suppose.) He adamantly slammed his hand down on the table when I told him maybe I wouldn't achieve my goals and asked: "Why not?"
I urge each of you to harness that same mentality, and to press on, even when you want to give up. And if you do fail...
3. Sometimes failures lead to opportunities.
But with all the chagrin the past four years at the University of Rhode Island may have brought me, I am still that cheesy, vomit-inducing romantic that will look fondly back on these years.
They say high school flies by, but I still remember being a sleepy little freshman sitting in Professor John Pantalone's URI 101 class, across the room from people who would become some of my best friends, wondering how the hell I would get through the next four years.
Of course, now I'm sitting here wondering where the past four years went. And as I sit, less than 20 days to commencement, I feel it only necessary to reminisce through my favorite forté: writing. So here's what I think you should know, and do, before you're in the same boat. ...er ... chair, as me.
1. Find something you love.
I'm serious. I've known my game plan since I was 13-years-old flipping through American Girl Magazine, but not everyone finds their passions right away. It took me until junior year to solidify what I want to spend my life writing about, and without my years here, I never would have realized it. And if someone tries to deter you...
2. Don't let the bad guys bring you down.
Or the bad girls, to each his or her own. A friend said to me recently not to let anyone tell me that I can't do something, because I could (short of acquiring Harry Potter-like powers, I suppose.) He adamantly slammed his hand down on the table when I told him maybe I wouldn't achieve my goals and asked: "Why not?"
I urge each of you to harness that same mentality, and to press on, even when you want to give up. And if you do fail...
3. Sometimes failures lead to opportunities.
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