No one gives you a guidebook to navigating college. You are dropped off at your freshman dorm and forced to stumble, fumble, and eventually grasp what it means to “adult”. As a senior at Brown, I have made my fair share of laughable, or even regrettable, mistakes, but I have also learned valuable lessons on how to take full advantage of this often uncomfortable, but undoubtedly beneficial, college experience. Silly mistakes and thoughtless miscalculations are bound to happen in these next four years, but I can at least offer the guidance I wish I had walking through those Van Winkle gates four years ago.
- Use the Open Curriculum Wisely
One of the most appealing aspects of Brown is its liberating open curriculum, which allows you to explore topics that pique your interest rather than a set of core courses. While most go into freshman year with this intention in mind, as semesters pass it can become easy to use the open curriculum to take “easy A” courses that will boost your GPA or conversely, courses that simply fit your career path goals. I am not arguing that grades or career oriented goals are not important, but there is immense growth to be had by taking a course that pushes the boundaries of your discomfort. As a pre-medical student, I was incredibly concerned with filling my pre-med and concentration requirements, but when I forced myself to take a class for curiosity, rather than GPA, sake, I discovered hidden interests and opportunities for further exploration. It was my sociology class that exposed me to maternal health, a path I intend to pursue in the future. It was my art history class that helped me discover my love of impressionist paintings, leading me to become a frequent patron of art museums in my free time. If you bound yourself by your GPA or concentration, you may never find the niche interests you never considered as a passion or even a future career.
- Keep Your Eyes On Your Own CAB
A wise person once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy”. At an Ivy League school filled with overachievers, it can be natural to exchange notes on courses, grades, and research or internship opportunities, but it can quickly become dispiriting. It took me a few years to finally admit that I will never be the smartest student, or the student with the highest GPA, or the student with the most time logged in the library, and that is okay. When you are surrounded by high achieving students, it is easy to feel a case of imposter syndrome and lean into overcompensation. I will assure you, however, that the extra hours I spent in the library past midnight did not make me more intelligent or more successful in my courses, it only made me more stressed, depressed, and sleep deprived. Take the classes you enjoy, study hard, go to office hours, and ask for help, so that when you sit down to take an exam or write an essay, you will rest assured knowing you did all in your power. That is enough.
- Touch Grass
I am ashamed to admit that between my computer, iPad, and phone, there were some days that my eyes barely left a screen. At some point, I looked up and realized I had a deeper relationship with my Notes app and GCal than I did with my environment and the people in it. I love time-blocking my days and checking off assignments on my to-do list as much as the next Brown student, but college is also a time to foster deep relationships in person. It was a shockingly hard lesson to learn that sometimes the computer screen must be left inside while you frolick. Sit on the main green, bask in the sun, grab a quick lunch with a friend, walk down to Coffee Exchange for a coffee date, or read a book on the quiet green. No matter what you decide to do, take at least one break a day to interact with the humanity and nature around you. You can even schedule it in your GCal.
- Making Friends Has No Time Limit
I remember quite vividly the mad dash to find a friend group during freshman Fall – all of us scrambling to secure numbers and dinner dates at the Ratty in order to not be the maligned loner. While I certainly participated in this frenzy, I learned later that friendships come from places beyond one’s freshman dorm. As I sat next to a friendly face in a class, participated in rush, and struck up conversation at random parties, I gained friendships that were unexpected, but often more meaningful than the friendships I made freshman year in haste. Some of my closest friends came in Sophomore and Junior year; and while this fact may have scared Freshman year Alex, I rest easy knowing these friendships will be lifelong.
- Take a Deep Breath
As I write this, I am overlooking the sunny main green and can remember the first day I walked across its grassy expanse tentatively to my first class at Brown in Solomon Hall – it feels like just yesterday. As a freshman, college seems almost infinite: endless classes, endless assignments, endless parties, endless opportunities, but this all passes by in a colorful blur, until you realize it’s senior year and you have barely grasped your bearings. As you rush from class to club meeting to dinner with friends to the library, time can slip by stealthily. It took me until senior year to realize that a deep breath and a pause every once in a while is necessary. Stop. Breathe. Look around: take in the budding flowers on the main green, your friend’s silly story about last night’s antics, the chalk on the dusty chalkboard in the lecture hall, the sun glinting off the Hay’s expansive windows. Brown is not always lovable, but it is, in my humble opinion, always incredible. Thousands of bright students from all across the world are gathered in a few square miles of college hill taking classes together, studying together, partying together, figuring out young adulthood together. That’s pretty remarkable.