Your time is now

Getting a record-breaking five pages in, I heard a voice next to me.

I never saw him around campus before but when he asked to share the bench, I shifted and welcomed the company. It wasn’t long before he tried to break the ice with a joke, a commendable effort on his part, and we began talking about our degrees and our long-term goals for school.

He was a first year student coincidentally pursuing the same degree as me and after casual conversation, he said that something compelled him to come over and speak to me.

And then it got me thinking.

Would I, in my first year of university, have been bold enough to walk over to a stranger and strike up a conversation? Maybe.

But with the influx of first years that will be walking the halls and exploring their new environment tomorrow, I certainly hope that, for them, they will be bolder than I was and will open their selves up like that boy did.

These past few months have been a whirlwind for us with the much anticipated review of Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE ) that have forced some to redesign our plan for obtaining our degree, throwing us off track a bit.

This issue, amongst others, is current and it is imperative that we encourage discussion because it affects us all in some way.

After all, we must make our voices heard on the matters which impact our lives.

But in the same breath, we must not get so tied up with these bureaucratic things that we forget to relate to one another and take advantage of the opportunities that are still at our fingertips.

Too many times I see students leaving campus, complaining that there is nothing to do.

Yet, my Facebook notifications are on fire with groups, clubs, faculties posting about events that they are hosting within the week.

For me, university was that fresh start I was looking for.

I could be anyone I wanted and do things that I’ve always wished to but never had the means to.

After all, what did I have to lose? On a whim, I decided to visit the student services department and asked for a list of volunteering organisations on campus.

One club, Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter, happened to have their first meeting of the semester on that very day and after attending, the rest is history.

From joining this club, I was able to meet students from all walks of life who were pursuing degrees that I didn’t even know existed. It was then that I realised that there is a niche for everyone with others who share your interest, no matter how wild and wacky you may think it is.

The trick is putting yourself out there and discovering until you find your groove.

We are more than textbooks and letter grades.

Our degree is meaningless if we cannot show our future employers that we are more than a brainiac in, say, computer engineering, and that we actually have skills in working and communicating with others, no matter how different they are from us. Having been one of the 23 interns with Newsday’s Youth Lens and Opinion programme over the past month, there is one crucial thing that this experience has taught me: when youth of different backgrounds, personalities, skills come together with a common goal or interest, they can make magic beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. So, I challenge you.

Do the things that scare you, within reason. Push yourself out of your comfort zone and walk up to that person who’s wearing your favourite band shirt, or that kid who is a l w a y s s i t t i n g alone in lectures.

You never know w h a t c o u l d happen.