a tiny manifesto for incoming college students

reflections from a weathered graduating student

Yesterday, I had an “I’m graduating?!” moment, and took the evening to reflect on the journey — the body of knowledge I was walking away with, the set of ‘marketable skills’ I’d acquired, and the immense personal and spiritual growth that started out as an externality eventually became the goal.

From my reflections, here is a tiny manifesto of scattered advice for incoming college students.

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• The most fulfilling are the aimless conversations you have with friends.

• Be open: question your beliefs so they turn to conviction, play devil’s advocate, but do so charitably, and do not ask a question in the last five minutes of class.

• Steal like an artist — steal thoughts, words, and ideas, but always cite your work.

• Wander, and get lost. Literally, explore your campus, and the nature that surrounds it. Go on a short afternoon walk.

• Be wary of the media-generated narrative of a ‘typical college experience’ (bovine contentment is sometimes more fulfilling that hedonistic belligerence.)

• Have a thesis for what consists a ‘good life’ when you enter college, and see how it changes when you leave.

• Ask yourself if you’re in the pursuit of happiness, or a self and life that happiness is a fitting response to. If this question intrigues you, read Kant and Bentham.

• If you’re looking for inspiration, write down 100 questions — about the universe, yourself, anything you want — in one sitting. After the first ~30, you will have to reach far into your mind to generate curiosities. Categorise themes that emerge, highlight questions that arouse emotion, and ponder.

• If you have a range of passions, spend enough time with them, and something will happen. Don’t worry about building a unifying narrative — when you look back retrospectively, the dots will connect.

• Write thank-you notes to the ones who help scaffold your journey, the ones who sparked change, and the ones who stood by you when you did.

• Use your classes stretch your mind in different directions if your major affords it: study music, drama, philosophy, literature, logic, and math.

• Figure out what makes you uncomfortable, and ask why.

• International students — don’t be afraid to go through the cultural reconstruction process. You will take on a range of identities, but eventually they’ll squish into one. Get a social-security number, and a driver’s license. Don’t waste too much time questioning systemic injustices unless you’re going to fix them.

• Travel alone once — it will teach you to be content in solitude

• If you hold your breath and try to beat your record every time, time passes faster in classes.

• Be intentional about the information you consume: learning wires your brain to think differently. Passive learning occurs when you scroll through content on a feed. You spend thousands of dollars to carefully curate your learning experience in the classroom - don’t be frivolous with your learning outside of it. 

• When you have the means, volunteer. Giving more than you take always keeps the chi balanced.