Senior Salute – Justin Weller: “Farewell Catawba”
By Justin Weller, Writer
May 4, 2010
Filed under Pioneer Staff, Spotlights, Top Stories
These four years have flown by. I feel like it was just yesterday when my parents were walking around this campus for me dropping $500+ on the books that I was going to need for that semester. I remember having trouble suppressing a smile because I was finally going to be on my own. It was a freeing feeling when you know that you will be spending most of the year away from home and supervision. It is really the small detour to being on your own. At least at college I didn’t have to pay the utilities.
Freshman year was a fantastic year. I learned the hard way that you really do need to stay on top of the game. I failed a class my freshman year and it really dragged my GPA down that I had to spend the rest of my college career pulling it back up. But it is possible. If you messed up a little bit this year don’t lose heart. You can still redeem yourself.
The more I try to think about the last 4 years the harder it is for me to remember what happened. I remember freshman year my friend Grant almost flew out of Woodson’s 2nd floor window. The second semester is when I turned straight edge. I remember swimming and complaining throughout the first 3 years. I remember meeting a bunch of cool people and also meeting a bunch of people who weren’t as pleasant. I remember staying up until 6am playing Mario Kart on the Wii with Howard, DJ, and Zane. Benchwarmers were the first club I’ve ever been to. And there were times where all we did was hang around and talk to each other, sometimes until the sun came up. There was also a time where I stayed up until 6am playing Mario Kart on the Wii with Howard, DJ, and Zane. That isn’t a typo, I did it two nights in a row.
One of my best memories was when I watched the sun rise from the Ketner lab while working on a Terrorism paper for Dr. Silverburg. My good friend Brent Johnson was with me working on English papers. Breakfast tasted extra good that morning.
Where did the time all go? I can’t believe I’m about to graduate. 1461 days (counting summer and breaks) and all of a sudden I’m about to have a degree. But I’ve learned so much more than what they teach you in the classrooms. Want to have a great time at Catawba? Let me tell you a few tricks so you too can have a great time.
First of all, do everything you can. I’m not saying be ridiculous and join every club made under the sun. I’m just saying don’t stay in your room all the time. Go to every event you can. It’s free; the worst that will happen is that you might find yourself enjoying it.
Second, if you live nearby then don’t go home all the time. If you live on campus, be a part of it. Don’t hang out long enough to go to classes and then head home every chance you get. Sure the food here isn’t amazing and there are people that will rub you the wrong way but college gets better with friends. And it usually gets worse with the lack of them. You want those friends there when you’re both suffering through the same crappy assignments and talking about dropping out together. If you are on a sports team then spend time with people who aren’t your teammates. You’ll miss out on fantastic people otherwise.
As much as you’ll hate this next tip, you’re going to have to read carefully. Stay on top of the game. This is what college is: a game. Play it right. Do you work prompt and of decent quality. Try to avoid the late nights of cramming and pumping out poorly written papers. If you have to do it that way then have the research done prior to the night before. Then writing the paper is a breeze. Make sure to talk in class. I don’t mean to your neighbor. I mean to participate in discussions. It doesn’t have to be much. Just make one good point and then shut up. You’ll appear smart, trust me I’ve done this. If there is a presentation that needs to be done, then volunteer to go first. Set the bar for everybody else. And whatever you do start playing the game early. I started too late. I didn’t get in the game until my sophomore year where I had to make a 2.4 into a 3.0 again. It took me 2 years of hustling to get my grades up but I did reach my goal.
I hope you can take something from my mistakes and follow these tips. I know there isn’t much to it but I have had some of the best times of my life up to this point. Try not to complain as much that “Catawba is too small and there’s nothing to do.” Wah wah wah. Quit complaining and make something of this place. You’re a college kid, you can figure it out.
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