OPINION
MY VIEW
Freshman Reset
BY NEIL JAMES
Opinion Editor
For most incoming freshmen,
college is a beacon of hope.
High school students across
the country are conditioned to
believe that college is a utopian
paradise. When 1 first signed
into Senat Hall 1 half expected
be given a condom, a can of
beer, and bump in to my soul
mate in some romantic comedy
style mishap. Needless to say,
my freshman year didn’t work
out exactly as I had planned. I
have plenty of regrets and
would love to re-do my first
year. Though, since I can’t do
that, I feel that it is my duty to
inform the incoming freshmen
of my errors, so that they may
learn from my mistakes and
have a better experience.
• Actually get to know your
roommate. I can’t stress how
important it is to get to know
your roommate. My old room
mate was a super-cool dude,
but both of us were just really
shy and never really got to
know one another. In retro
spect we actually had a lot in
common, and could have been
great friends. The year would
have been a much better expe
rience if we’d taken the time to
become more then just ac
quaintances.
• Don’t over do Bruno’s. Seri
ously, eating at Bruno’s too
much will drain your meal plan
with lightning speed. If you eat
there everyday, you’ll be out of
money by the end of October.
• Exercise and Proper diet.
Maintaining a proper diet and a
healthy exercise routine is a
fantastic way to deal with stress
and fight the Freshmen Fifteen.
Sure, the Junker Center can get
really busy at night; but staying
in shape should be high on any
one’s list of priorities. Not sim
ply because it’s healthy, but if
you don’t hit the gym at least
once a week, you’ll eventually
out grow your pants.
• Get involved. A great way to
get sbtne fast friends is to get
involved in one of the various
MY VIEW
Metamorphosis
BY EVAN KOSER
arts editor
Three years. It’s been three
years now since I broke out of
my metaphorical chrysalis that
was the high school experi
ence. While it may seem cliche
to use the caterpillar-to
butterfly analogy, consider this
question for a minute: is the
final product, the butterfly, still
the caterpillar he once was?
That’s what I’ve been trying
to figure out for three years.
Am 1 free to fly in a gentle
breeze now, or has my meta
morphosis not taken place, let
alone finished? In terms of
changing, I haven’t stopped
since I first set foot on this cam
pus, and I don’t see my growth
as a person coming to a halt
any time soon.
Though before I start ques
tioning whether or not change
can be a good thing, the best
first step into this sort of self-re
flection is to ask myself what
I’ve learned and where I’ve
grown. First and foremost, col
lege has done more for my per
sonal growth individually and
responsibly than any amount of
parental harassment through
highs school. I’ve learned that
an argument is nothing but a
fight for fight’s sake. An open
ear and attentive mind can take
you further with anyone than
money, looks, and false sympa
thy ever will. Most importantly,
responsibility is a DIY pro
gram; until you understand that
no one is going to hold your
hand through college, then
you’ll never find yourself able
to step out the door into the real
world.
Through just the few things
I’ve learned, I can revisit my
prior analogy and mold it, just
as college molds - not changes
- someone into something al
tered and unique, but ulti
mately unscathed. I can safely
say, even now entering my jun
ior year, that who I was before
college, and who I am after I
Behrend clubs. Whether it’s
Hall Council or Thon, pick a
club and go with it. It’s pro
vides food, friends and a pleas
ant break from normality.
• Come to college single. This
is for those who already have a
partner. Don’t outright dump
them, but it’s worth giving your
relationship some deep
thought. You will change dur
ing your collage experience,
and it’s much easier to grow
and develop when the only per
son you have to worry about is
yourself.
• Don’t make finding a Partner
your only goal. If you are sin
gle and are dying for a relation
ship, you freshmen year is not
he time to worry about it.
Focus on your grades, or else
you won’t be in college long
enough to stay with that special
someone.
• If you need help, get it!
There is no shame in getting a
tutor or going to office hours.
Professors can’t help you if you
don’t show interest. If you
don’t get involved then you’ll
just be a number, but if you
show interest in your grades
then they’ll feel more inclined
to cut you some slack.
• Be Patient. College is going
to test you in a lot of ways and
at some point your going to be
ready to pull your hair out.
Whether is floundering in a
class or dealing with idiots,
you’ll be ready to hit critical
mass eventually. Just stay
calm and keep your cool. Peo
ple can be annoying and
classes are not fun, but panick
ing and throwing a fit won’t
help the matter. Just take a
break, step back and look for a
new way to solve the problem.
These are just a few things
that I’d re-do, but we don’t go to
college just to get a degree. By
making mistakes we learn
about who we are and who we
want to be. Mistakes are actu
ally the best learning tool that
we have at our disposal, just
don’t kill anybody and you
should be fine.
graduate are always going to j
both be Evan Koser. As college i
stands as a transition between I
high school and the “real j
world,” it becomes the chrysalis i
many search for. College be- j
comes the vessel for change.
And what better place to seek I
change and a new “identity” \
than in college? No one knows j
who you are, where you come j
from, or what your interests i
are. Now, the beginning of i
your freshmen year especially, j
is the perfect time to reach |
deep down inside and become I
the person you’ve always |
wanted to be. Some may criti- I
cize me for advocating against |
the “be yourself ” mentality, but I
I rebute: are you not yourself if j
you start to live out your deep- j
est desire? To become some- i
one you aren’t is to remain |
yourself. Who you are wishes I
to be something else -so in be- j
coming that something, you do j
nothing more than fulfill your i
ultimate wish. A person can do ;
his or herself the ultimate serv- I
ice by acting independently, |
taking others into considera- j
tion, and putting effort into his j
or her aspirations.
lam still changing, still grow- |
ing. Are who I was three years j
ago and who I am now the j
same Evan Koser? Yes and no. I
For the most part, none of us I
ever make the same mistake !'
twice. Through trial and error, |
we learn what works and what ;
doesn’t. If there is anything a I
first-year student should take |
away from this article, it’s that I
now is your chance. Now is the i
time for all of you young cater- j
pillars to gather the knowledge j
you need to manifest your own j
chrysalis through college. Now j
is one of the only opportunities j
of your entire lifetime to be- |
come what you’ve aspired to j
be, to overcome what you’ve al- j
ways felt was an obstacle, or to j
shape your life the way you j
want it to be.
Is the butterfly still the cater
pillar he once was?
/V \ V \
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OUR VIEW
Change comes bearing gifts
As a staff, we want to make
the Behrend Beacon the best
newspaper that we can possibly
create. We have made a lot of
changes to the newspaper this
year; many of these you may
have noticed in this paper,
many are yet to come. Why
now? Why so suddenly?
Change for the sake of
change isn’t worth it, but we
also feel that letting ourselves
get stuck in the rut of what
we’ve “always done” is just as
bad. While we could have
brought in these new chan-ges
gradually, we instead chose to
start off the year with a com
plete redesign. We want to give
you the best newspaper possi
ble, right away. We are going to
try a lot of things that have
never been tried at this school,
and the best time to start is
right now.
First, we have completely re
designed the styles in the news
paper. Fonts, titles, bylines - all
intended to give you, the
reader, an easier time navigat
ing your news.
More importantly, though, we
The Behrend Beacon
Penn State Eire, The Behrend College
Reed Union Building
4701 College Drive, Erie PA 16563
Room 10H
Telephone: (814)898-6488
Fax: (814)898-6019
:dltor-in-Chlef:
Connor Satttey
tiso6oopau.edu
lanaglng editor:
Jhrtsflne Newby
iensos6Opau.edu
Mb Editor:
tarcus Yeagtey
ittySol2opeu.edu
are narrowing our focus on
what Behrend students care
about. We promise that every
week we will have something
that interests each student.
Along these lines, we have
added and will soon add many
pages: pages designed for engi
neers, scientists, businesspeo
ple, and humanities majors; a
page covering world and na
tional news; a “Week in Photos”
page, on page two this week; a
page covering fraternity and
sorority life; and many more.
With each of these new
pages, we will strive to keep the
quality of the Beacon at the ut
most highest.
The most important change
of this school year, however, is
the fact that we are no longer
content being the “student
newspaper;” we instead intend
to be a student media center
which will provide video, pho
tos, audio, networking, and on
line information.
To that end, we have
scrapped our website com
pletely, and rebuilt it; the effort
has already drawn national at-
tive Boan
Business Managers:
Bethany Long
bjlso37Opsu.edu
Michelle Quail
mlqsooWpsu.edu
Faculty Advisor:
Kim Young
kjylo@psu.edu
itooNir..,
News Editor:
Mike 0. Wehrer
mjss3B7@psu. edu
Arts Editor:
Evan Koser
emksos6Opau. edu
Opinion Editor:
Neil James
njpsoB3Opeu.edu
Sport* Editors:
Nick Blake
npbso4lOpsu.edu
Sean Annarelli
smaslB9opeu.edu
Photo Editor:
Daniel J. Smith
djss223opeu.edu
Bulan*** Editors:
Harmilee Cousin
hxcso2oopau. edu
Garrett Carson
gmcso2lOpeu.edu
,%/
m vpiiok
iu<rcs
cftmoiiii
( HELLO... \
MICHAEL VICK? I
tention from other college edi
tors, and we feel that our web
product is outstanding. For it to
be a success, though, we need
your help; we need to know
what you think of stories, so
comment. We need to know
what you think of videos, so
watch. Every day, we will have
something new on the website
about your campus. Our plans
are to show you exclusive
videos of construction, plans
for improving campus, and in
vestigative videography.
Our website is located at
www.thebehrendbeacon.com.
While we hope that you send in
letters to the editor, and com
ment on our website, we have
also created a Facebook page
that will allow for easy com
ments. We plan to launch one
Twitter account for each sec
tion, allowing students to fol
low only that area that interests
them.
The last thing we need,
though, is you. We are recruit
ing students from every comer
of campus to join in our efforts
to create one of the best college
Single copiee of the Beeoon ere bee end eveileble et newv
etende around campus. Additional copies con be purchnoed with
peraieeian of the adfcar In chief for 5.60 aach.
Engineering Editor*:
Sid Carson
socso77Opeu.edu
Kevin KowM
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Sclwio* Editor:
Brian Carbon
bmcso62Opeu.edu
Human Hl** Editor:
Adam Spinell
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Photographer*:
Jon Klein
jekso34Opeu.edu
Mike Fultz
mjfs2o4Opeu.edu
Sarah Baker
sjbs273opeu.edu
Optolnne wpreeeed hereto ere not neceeeerily thoee of the etu
dentt, feculty or University edminietntion. Opinions expressed in
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Any letten Intended for publication must be eddnaoed to the
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Opinion page tabs a forum for diecuaaioa, not a ecraante hide
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should be diiucisd to the editor at edhor@psu.edu.
Behrend Beacon I p
August 21, 2009
www.thebehrendbeacon.com |
newspapers in the country this
year. If you don’t have prior ex
perience, we will help you de
velop your writing skills.
Whether you want to write
about engineering, or music, or
sports, we will rind a place to
allow you to build that resume
and get involved on campus.
We offer paid positions for stu
dents who write for longer than
one semester for the Beacon. If
you’re interested, or just want
to see the various employment
opportunities we offer, visit
www.thebehrendbeacon.com/jo
inus.
So, new students, we wel
come you to the campus. For
returning students, we wel
come you back. We hope that
you will spend this year staying
aware on what’s going on
around you both at Behrend, in
Erie, and in the world. We will
try our best to help you accom
plish just that.
Christine Newby for the Edito
rial Board
www.ca9i«c«toons.eom
h
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