You’re finally here, College. Ready for another four, or probably more, years of schooling. High School is behind you, and your future is bright and pretty shiny. You may have friends that made the journey with you, or you may not. Those of you that didn’t are the luckiest ones, becuase you’ll have a chance to meet many new people, some that are completely different than yourself.
College is an amazing place. It brings together so many different people with a unified goal, to gain knowledge, or at least, get a piece of paper that may help get a job, maybe. This diversity and the fact that you all have pretty much the same reason to be here is a great thing. You have something in common with everyone here, you’re all students. You’re all working your way through your classes and you all might be struggling in some aspect of your lives.
Here’s what some people, myself included, miss while they’re tyring to struggle their way through. They miss the chance to get to know someone completely unlike themselves. Someone who is from across the country, or possibly the world. Someone who has a different religion, is from a different culture, or maybe is just from a different town. These are the people you need to meet.
People are strange creatures, small life experiences change who we are in amazing ways. We then use those experiences to interpret what happens in our lives. We are all fundamentally different beings. We are a collection of events that have manifested into a personality. It’s amazing to consider.
This is what I mean by learning about someone else and their lives. Learn about the events that shaped them. Discover what made them who they are, and share with them what made you who you are. Learning about the world and what makes people tick is never a bad thing.
If you stick to people like you, and don’t venture outward into the wide world of diversity, then you may miss meeting people that completely change the way you see the world, and that would be a waste of your time here.
Learning is why we’re here. So why not learn about others, and where they come from. Don’t shut out amazing people and experiences just becase they seem a little different. You’ll end up better for stepping out of your comfort zone and getting to know someone you only have one thing in common with.
