Hey, I’m talking to you, new kid. I know you’ve had a rough couple days, it’s a real tough transition. The culture is different, and not the way it’s supposed to be. Do you really want to be here? Your roommates are jerks, and you just feel uncomfortable. Hard to explain. Like high school again except more aloof, lonelier. When you try to tell someone, it just sounds like complaining, you even question what you’re trying to say. The people seem fake and manufactured, like cardboard cutouts of humanity and ?projections of intelligence. IQ substitute, Stepford ?students.

Whoa, sport, let’s take a knee. Breathe.

Glad you pulled it together because we need your help. You have come to this campus at a pivotal moment in our history. Today, we stand on the edge of greatness. Some of the most talented young people in the world walk among us from disparate parts of the globe. The University is becoming a global leader and is finally using its impressive track record to grow as a shining educational institution. Our degrees mean more as our name grows in clout. Our engineers, nurses and lawyers are some of the best in the South, while our communications program is making a national splash with a growing rolodex of heavy-hitting alumni.

But enough of the sales pitch, you already go here and obviously believe that the University is the best place for you to grow. So allow me to go off script for a minute by saying that in order to get the most out of this experience, you should try to cause some trouble. No, I’m not talking Animal House tactics that have the shelf life of your parents’ patience. Instead, you should try to challenge the status quo and create something of value to yourself and the campus. Don’t be a jerk about it. Be polite but firm, and never be scared to speak up and disagree with what you see.

Here’s the hard truth: This campus is everything you think it is. The fakes are real, buddy, and they run deep. But so do we, and now that you are here, that increases our ranks by one. This is not a political or regional thing. It’s also not greek vs. independent, nor is it race or gender-based. It’s something much deeper and more fundamental.

I can’t tell you how many smart, intelligent people come to campus and float for a few years, putting their dreams and ambitions on hold, waiting for their time, thinking there is an endless supply of time. It’s not true. It’s a trap. So many people try to make up four years in four months before they head out the door to an uncertain world. They waited their turn, were too passive in the face of “tradition” and established procedure and precedents.

The divide that I speak of is personality-based – those who push the limits and those that live too comfortably in them. It’s the fight against apathy that will define your time here and in the world beyond, as it always has been.

But you, dear freshman, you’ve been given a chance, an opportunity to make a difference. Playing it cool doesn’t get you any points in this game; it gets you forgotten.

Rich Robinson is a senior majoring in telecommunication and film.