Dear Freshman Kayla,
Hey younger me! So day one of being a student at SHU, your anxiety about college is at an all-time high. “Will I make friends?” “Will I transfer out?” “This is not the experience that the movies promised me.” Well, four years later, I can tell you, as cliche as it is… It does get better.
Let’s start with the anxiety. As you get on the Zoom calls, you build your confidence as a person. Yes, you hit some bumps in the road, especially in the first year. You weirdly get used to the masks and learn that every college student is going through what you are going through. You are going to experience the Just SHU It Fair (it was a week-long instead of a one-day event). You will get a lollipop with an inspirational message. At first, you think it is strange, but that is when you will learn about S.W.E.E.T (Student Wellness Education and Empowerment Team). This would become the first group you would join! Over the four years that you are a part of it, you will be educated on topics that are considered tough but will help you understand your own mental health while showing you ways to help other students who struggle. Oh, and in our senior year, you will be the PRESIDENT of this organization. I know, wild! The group of other S.W.E.E.Ts are some of the most caring students you will meet, and it is so easy to be part of the team with them. Also, Karen (your advisor) is a queen.
As far as making friends you will do it! The first year will start slowly, but we had to get through COVID-19 (which you did). In a few weeks, you will go on a one-day retreat to the Chapel of the Holy Spirit run by the Campus Ministry office. This day will change you in more ways than one. I know right now you are going through thoughts like “Is God real?” But heads up, you will make your Confirmation sophomore year, but don’t worry, religion is still confusing. Now, the other thing that the retreat will bring is Kat. Kat will become your roommate for the next three years, your travel buddy, podcast co-host, and lifelong friend. And guess what, you become a captain of the Peer Ministry Team in senior year and kill it, even if it doesn’t feel that way all the time.
Another group that will help you make friends is the Student Event Team (SET). Now, this group will go through ups and downs but will be a united group that helps you make friends in some silly ways, but this won’t happen until sophomore year. This group will also build your passion for social media, and you will get to help grow SET’s Instagram and TikTok; also, you get to write unhinged subject lines for emails. You will also be able to dominate the social media game with the iconic, and the only person who truly gets our social media humor, Alanna.
I know you have a dream of being a tour guide for SHU, and guess what… You became a Student Ambassador (aka a dope name for a tour guide) sophomore year. Now, you will
freak out since public speaking is not your strong suit, but after your first tour, it is mostly smooth sailing. How you dream of it… is true! It is amazing to talk about something you love while having the opportunity to see students fall in love with the school you fell in love with sophomore year of high school. P.S. You will get rejected as a Student Ambassador at first, but in a few months, Rob Gilmore will realize what a mistake that was and accept you into the program.
As our time at SHU is coming to an end, one organization you will join in your last year will be the Spectrum Newspaper. Yes, the girl who has dyslexia is on the newspaper… but not as a writer but as a Public Relations manager. You will be able to see one of your other lifelong college friends, Brendan, ace it as Editor-In-Chief of the paper. You will also be helping put together table times. You will surprisingly be able to get fifty copies of the paper handed out in 20 minutes. Which is unconfirmed but I feel it is a world record.
We are about to graduate, and thinking about what worried us back then makes me see how far we have come to become someone that I know freshman Kayla would be proud of. This next chapter in life brings new worries, but we got through college we can get through anything.
P.s. To answer your high school grad cap “If the SHU Fits?” … It fits perfectly!
Crying in the club meeting, Senior Kayla
