August rolls around each year with bittersweet tastes of chapters closing and new beginnings. Western North Carolina is in full bloom flashing the growth this season has to offer. Be sure to relish the sweetness of summer but prepare for the excitement of things to come.
It is easy to find advice for a new school year. Get organized and involved, get rest and all the advice you intend to follow but lose sight of after a week of classes. When your feet hit the ground that first day back (or your first day ever) you feel distant from your color-coded planner and the college advice you found on TikTok.
Good advice for college is harder to come by and this may not be what you’re looking for. But this is practical advice based on my time so far at WCU.
There actually are lots of things to do in college. Do the things that interest you because that is where you will find the people that interest you. Writing, gaming, art, religion, sports and every niche in between can exist on a college campus. Not everything is about building your resume. Whether it’s disc golf, social advocacy or improv, be true to the interests you have. Your place in college is doing what brings you joy. Find your place and in turn, find your people.
Seasons shift and so will the people you spend time with. And that is okay. We are all constantly changing. Naturally, people drift apart as they change. Hold your friends close but don’t hold them too tightly. People fall away and new people enter your life. Love each season and the people around you in each season.
Don’t hide your curiosity. Ask questions! Ask everyone questions. Ask older and younger students, professors and whoever else you feel compelled to speak to. We aren’t born knowing everything. There is always something new and confusing. Don’t burden yourself trying to figure everything out alone.
You will not be this age in this place with these people again. Savor it. The days are long, and the earth is warm. I think August calls us to slow down despite the change that swirls around us. Enjoy this transition, bask in the warmth of summer’s final stretch, her humid swan song, soak it all in.
“I feel like a time traveler: June, July, August. Summer dissolves in my mouth and I can’t remember what it tasted like.”
- Zoe Lianne, “Erasure”
