Hendry: ‘Don’t spend your year alone’

I had lunch with President Abbott and a few other honors students last week. While the group of us munched chips and lemon squares, he and the younger students discussed dorm life for first years.

Abbott noted how disappointed he is by how often he’ll hear of first year girls spending all their time alone in their rooms, missing home and eventually transferring.

I sat there in silence, wondering who told President Abbott about my freshman year.

Adjusting to college was like pulling teeth for me. After having the same friends for 90 percent of my life, I hadn’t realized how introverted and shy I really could be.

Being so far away from home certainly didn’t help either. I’d been so excited and proud to pick this school, but once I got here and the reality hit, I had to keep myself from begging my parents to come take me home.

While I think I needed that tough experience in order to grow, I hope that’s not the case for next year’s incoming first-years. This year, I’ve gotten to know a few first-years who have become my role-models — diving head-first into all the great organizations and groups that campus has to offer and achieving some pretty impressive things.

There’s something for everyone here — even me. One thing I did right my freshman year was joining (and then sticking with) the honors program. Yes, it does entail some challenging classes, but I’ve made some great friends through the program.

Not only that, but being an honors student has some great perks: lunch with the university president, trips to the opera, an afternoon at the Omaha Zoo. These are the sorts of great adventures that I wouldn’t have had any other way…especially because they are often free.

My second year of college I finally found the guts to get involved with The Volante and our live TV news broadcast, KYOT News. As a double major who spent the first half of my college career getting pre-reqs out of the way, these groups weren’t just gateways to explore my interest in media.

Through these groups I was able to get to know people within my department that I hadn’t yet been able to meet in classes. By joining these student groups, I found people with similar interests and attitudes toward the things that made me pick this university in the first place.

So take it from Abbott and me: don’t spend your year alone and sad in your dorm room. The adjustment to college life may be a difficult one, but that’s the best reason to take a few chances, get involved and discover you aren’t in this alone.