New Year, New Things?

As my first year as a college student is coming near an end, I sit and assess the things in my life and how they have changed. It's crazy how even with all the growing I have done in the past semester and a half, there's still many things I still haven't grasped. I guess the old saying holds true, "the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know". Above all, what surprises me the most is how many college stories I've found to be completely untrue.

Take for instance the myth about how either in college your going to party and drink all the time, or you'll be stuck in your room studying like crazy. Me personally, although college is a sense of freedom, I'm still pretty close to home so I never go off the deep end and party like crazy. The myth that really got to me the most was definitely the one about long-distance relationships. In some cases this college story has held true, I mean I know people who as soon as they stepped foot on campus their relationships was doomed. Me personally, I know that this story is just that, a myth. I know plenty of people who came to this campus in a long-distance relationship and it has actually survived this long.

It's funny because I was the one who claimed I'd never EVER be in that type of commitment from such a distance. It gets better with time I guess. It's extremely difficult but then again, like with any other friendship, you find ways to make it work. Skype has definitely become my best friend this year. It's the next best thing than having those loved one's in the same room.

I guess coming to college I never really realized just how many young people are willing to go out on a limb and make their relationships work, even from afar. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one here trying so hard at something many college students claim is virtually impossible. Many couples involved in such relationships claim that they would be doomed if it weren't for Skype, and I'm just about convinced that they are right.

I know that anything we as college students put our minds to , we can achieve. With lots of will and some extreme dedication the 'new year' as a college freshman doesn't just have to be about partying it up, it can also lead meaningful connections that test out just how string you really are.

Alcohol on SMU campus...again!

Last week, former Texas Commissioner Lee William "Bill" McNutt III was arrested for trespassing on SMU campus after he was banned for allegedly providing minors with alcohol. This whole alcohol problem on campus is getting out of hand. The article says that students consistently complain about this particular individual. With all that has happened on campus including numerous A.V.'s (alcohol violations) of this first-year class, I guess I just never really thought that the students here would actually report some crazy old guy who offers to supply beer. Maybe its just me and I see only one-side of the picture, but the people that I have witnessed, those first-years who come home drunk at least twice a week and barf their guts out in my bathroom, I just never really pictured anyone having enough guts to report this kind of behavior. Clearly my presumption was wrong which makes me extremely happy, the only sad thing in my eyes is how SMU never really sends out a campus-wide alert when we are on the news. Once again, I had to hear about this incident from my family members. I guess its just pathetic to me how someone with such a high role in this community would stoop so low as to hinder the lives of young people in college. But I do applaud those students who were strong enough to say no and to report such negligent behavior.