Working as an admissions counselor, I travel a lot. Not too far, but
it is amazing to me how much people change even two or three states
away. Growing up, my family didn't travel a lot. We have lived in
Maine for generations and we never really left. Since, traveling has become a hunger inside me. I've realized
how important it is to expand your knowledge past what you grew up in.
Even if you completely agree with the way you were raised and the
functions of your community, it's absolutely necessary to find people
with other traditions and ways of life. Try to live like them. Have
conversations with them. LISTEN to them. Listening is something that
my freshman year philosophy professor drilled into us as the most
important skill in life, and I'll never forget it. He couldn't have
been more right.
Try new things, and try to be positive about them. This is tough, but remind yourself that everything is placed in your life for a reason, even if you won't figure that reason out for years- if ever. It is necessary to meet new people and listen to them so that you can find the good in everyone, everything. Everyone you meet, everywhere you end up, even completely negative, is important in your life. And give people a chance- try to be friendly to everyone you meet- you never know who might change your life.
Talk to kids with disabilities- the summer I spent working at a camp for kids with special needs completely changed my life. The children with autism I met taught me much more than I probably taught them. Those kids really kept my perspective in check and reminded me, daily, what is most important in life. So whenever you can, volunteer with children. All children- they're amazing!
My junior year of college, I wrote a notebook full of lists for my younger cousin- he was about to go to college, and having just completed my first two years I thought if I could give him every piece of advice I wish I had received, he could avoid all the mistakes I made. But I never gave him the book. In fact, I think I found it a year ago and threw it out. I'm not sure that my advice would ever apply to him, or anyone else. I've finally realized that all the things I went through my freshman and sophomore years that I saw as completely negative, had actually happened so that I could learn from them. While I'd like to pass these lessons on to others who may need them, life lessons are individualized for each person- and they come from experiencing things.
So experience everything you can find!
Kate Beever is a musician and college admissions counselor at the University of New England.
