Don’t fear being yourself

By Connor DeBruler

College is a wonderful place, but it’s not heaven.

There are exorbitant fees to be paid. Students’ mornings will at times be groggy and malnourished. More than enough rhetoric is force-fed to the student body concerning their ever-elusive futures.

And far too much pizza is consumed.

Despite all of this, students here are given a gift that many people across the world never receive: the right to think for ourselves and say what we mean.

Attending a university is a unique opportunity to develop into the person we truly are and not just the person our mentors or parents urge us to become.

The superficial glitz of Welcome Week and Orientation can unfortunately misrepresent the opportunities accessible to every student at this institution.

Some freshman students may feel the pressure of expectations. Parents expect us to perform. School officials expect us to get involved. Scholarship requirements demand we maintain a specific GPA.

We must abandon what others expect of us. We are not here for anyone else but ourselves. If we follow our own passion and set our own goals, our grades will simply fall into place.

In order to become who we wish to be, we need to be aware of the world around us and form our own beliefs and opinions.

Here at Winthrop, freshman students have an opportunity to develop their own opinions void of parental, religious or political influence. We are free to think as we wish and say what we want.

In college, radical, revolutionary and substantive thought is commonplace. Protesting is a typical sight. Religious witnessing is also prevalent. It does not matter if our ideas are strange or extreme.

There is no safer place to voice an opinion.

Winthrop students are also encouraged to be open to new ideas and the ideas of others. Disagreement doesn’t have to be calamitous or painful.

Starting a new chapter in life can be exciting, confusing and even scary. There’s no reason to be afraid of handling our own lives. That’s what we’re here to learn. We’re here to get jobs. We’re here to study a passion. We’re here to meet people. We’re here to discover the most relevant thing of all: ourselves.

Success is another word you’ll hear all too often at Winthrop. Regardless of what we have been told, success has nothing to do with money or status or even how others see us.

Success is the ability to be happy in any way we choose. Success is being who we are. Success is being entitled to our own thoughts.

I wish every incoming freshman, as well as every student at this school, success.

We’re free!

If you’re interested in publishing an opinion, don’t hesitate to write a column for my page.

Welcome to Winthrop.