Sarah’s September Tenets to Surviving (S)college

In case you’re wondering, this blog was officially started at 9:48 p.m. on September 30th, 2024. That’s 2 hours and 15 minutes before I was supposed to have it done (which was a self imposed goal, but a goal nonetheless). It’s last minute, much like everything else seems to have been this semester, and I haven’t really had a moment to reflect on the ways my life has changed since I started college. 

I’m a senior now, and sometimes I feel that way (especially when the kid that sits next to me in my last class on Tuesdays and Thursday asked if I was a freshman, and when I proceeded to tell him I was a senior, he responded with you’re so ancient). And sometimes, I feel like I just got here. I haven’t gone through all this, though, only to keep it to myself. So, I figured this blog would be a good chance to share some things I’ve come to learn. Without further ado, here are Sarah’s September Tenets to Surviving Scollege (I wanted alliteration, okay). 

1. If you want to start something, just try. This one is about Uplift. If you’ve been with us since the very beginning, you’d remember that our first meeting was in the good old Taylor Tower lobby. We had about 8 people in attendance: 2 of them were Eva and I, and the other 6 were our roommates or people that lived across the hall from us. Nobody starts at the top, but you can certainly become something extraordinary if you believe in your cause. It sounds cheesy, but it’s true, and if Eva and I had quit before we saw any progress, we would have been done after the first meeting.

1. Be okay with changing your mind. This one is a little more personal, but I think it can apply to anyone (and still me, right now). When I first started college, I had no idea what I wanted my career to be. I’m a public health major, and I really enjoy it, but I also love a lot of other things, which makes it pretty hard to narrow down the options. So, I decided I needed to do a little more digging. I worked at the hospital, I did research, I took an internship, I got involved with clubs, and even founded my own. All this, for nothing. Or so I thought, because much to my dismay (sometimes), I still feel like I don’t know what I want to do. Let me let you in on a secret though: it doesn’t matter. I am making an impact on people right where I’m at, and I’m learning skills I’ll need to be successful in any career along the way.

1. Worry about success, but don’t let it take over. This can be tricky, especially when you have some freakishly big goals, and you think the world might implode if you don’t end with an A in Biochemistry 4511 (spoiler alert, it doesn’t). Everyone has big things they have to get done at one point or another, but that doesn’t mean your life should be put on hold while you’re doing them. Spend eight hours studying for your organic chemistry final at the library, and then go get a tattoo and an ear piercing after you’re done (hello second year Eva and Sarah). Dairy Queen works too.

1. Have perspective. 

Three blind men are up close with an elephant.

One at the trunk says, “It’s a snake!”

One at the side says, “No, you’re wrong. It’s a wall!”

Yet another one by a leg says, “No, you’re both wrong. It’s a pillar!”

I know it’s an elephant. You know it’s an elephant. Of course we do - we’re at The Ohio State University. Take a moment to think a little deeper though. If you never take a step into the lives of those around you, if you never try to walk from the trunk to the side to the leg, your perspective of the way life works is going to be pretty jaded. You’ll have a hard time understanding that the choices that people make and that the ways they act are so often a product of their circumstances, and not simply because they want to be in a difficult place.

It’s 10:47 p.m. at the moment, so I should probably be wrapping this up to hit my goal. I wouldn’t say I can see the whole elephant yet, but I do think I know a bit more than I did when I got here, and I’ll certainly miss Ohio State and Uplift when it’s time for me to go. For now, I’m just trying not to seem ancient.

Sarah Weglarz

Uplift Co-President