Dear College Freshman, It's Time To Thrive...

A Quagmire:

If you Google the word, here is what you will find.

"A soft area of land that gives way underfoot."
"An awkward, complex, or hazardous situation."

And for many college freshman, that is exactly what it feels like to walk on to campus for the second time.

I'm not talking about the first time. You know...the one when you tour the campus, seeing the best of everything. When you get what J-Lo calls "the goosies". When you seal the deal that this will be your University with the rite of passage that has happened for decades. You buy the sweatshirt from the bookstore, and wear it all over your hometown.

Everything is full of hope and excitement on the first visit. But when it comes time to wave to your parents from the curb as they become smaller, disappearing into the distance that is your former existence...something shifts.

Don't get me wrong. You are still excited. Come on, man. You've just reached the pinnacle of freedom.

Where do you start?

So much freedom, so much time.

Until there isn't.

Yeah...it happens the moment the first syllabus drops in front of you, with the weight of an anvil. It's multiplied a few times over...from class, to class, to class.

All of a sudden free time looks like one of those freezer bags that gets any quantifiable amount of air left sucked out of it by a vacuum-looking device.

Welcome to college.

If you arrive at this point still unsure of "WHAT" you want to be when you grow up, "WHAT" your major should be, "WHAT" classes you should take...it can be a lot like knowing you are hungry, but afraid to take a bite. Why? Because you know you are allergic to some of it...you just don't know what part of it.

Silly analogy? Maybe.
Effective? Absolutely.

Wouldn't it be nice to know what you were allergic to, before you consumed it?

I think there are 2 Quagmire-like times in a college freshman's life.

First steps and next steps.
Arriving and deciding.

How do you recapture the "sweatshirt-from-the-bookstore" feeling, when you are staring at the "what-the-heck-do-I-do-now" reality?

Take a step back.
Rewind.
Think about WHO you are and WHY you exist. Think about the very thing that drives you. Think about what you love to day-dream about. 

Start to think about what you believe in. The non-negotiable values that steer you. The ones, that at the end of the day, will keep you on track, on time, and on point...amidst the attractive distractions (and they will come) that flood the world of every college freshman.

Think about it this way...

When you know WHO you are, you will know WHAT to do. You exist to do something of significance, based on who YOU are.

This may sound fancy and idealistic. Maybe it is. But from my personal experience, having lived it...and failed out...and hearing from current day college students...this matters.

And at the risk of losing you altogether, I have some homework for you.

Write down the problem that bothers you the most in the world today. Now write down next to it, what you are uniquely equipped to bring to it. (Not what degree you think you need, or major you think you need to declare) Be specific. 

Write down the problem.
Write down where you would LOVE to participate in building the solution.

Once you get to the place where you begin to see the end, you will know where to start.

Once you start to see how you are built, you will know what you can bring to the table.

Once you know WHO you are, you will know WHAT to do.

That'll turn your Quagmires into Questions. Questions are a good thing. They lead to solutions. 

No more loose footing and awkward unknowns.

Your first steps become confident next steps.
Your arrival is no longer about just survival.

It's time to thrive.