We’ve been saying this every year for the past three years, but something feels different about this new one. I mean it, and I’m thinking that others are seeing the change I’m talking about, too. Campus is actually alive this year, and from the start the energy has been buzzing. The excitement of Orientation and move-in day was almost as palpable to me as when I moved into Osborn Hall myself so many years ago.

I remember thinking to myself on my own move-in day that I was finally here. I didn’t really know where “here” was, especially since I had been calling Denver, Colorado home for the previous 17 years. All I knew was that I was locked in to this new community of Hammies, or Pipers, or whatever you’d like to call us, as soon as I met a few people and made a couple of friends.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with the new director of the Hedgeman Center, Kareem Watts, this past week and hearing what he had to say about community. He said that students need community to feel connected and like we belong somewhere. Belonging can be tough in this age, where people’s communities are spread thin via social media and physical distance. That’s why Hamline, with our 2000 undergrads and small-er campus, has a head start in our community building efforts.

By year four, it’s nearly impossible for me to walk into a busy building and not recognize somebody. I used to dislike this aspect of our school, how there was a lack of invisibility I was craving after attending a similarly sized high school in my hometown neighborhood with people I had grown up with. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with occasionally keeping your head down to plow through the crowd without extra interactions. That can be exhausting. But loneliness is exhausting, too.

I’m no expert and I’m certainly not here to tell the student body what to do. All I have to go off of is the wisdom I’ve gathered and interpreted from others and my own lived experience. But I will say that college offers a chance that you may not find later in life, and that is the opportunity to lean into an intentional community.

We are here because we want to learn and grow as leaders, educators, scientists, advocates, creators, storytellers, and everything in between. Yes, you can come and get your degree and leave without much friction, if you’d prefer. But I strongly encourage you to dig in. Sink your teeth into something you’ve been passionate about your whole life, and you’ll find someone else who cares about that too. No one knows what you care about until you say it with your chest.

Wherever you find yourself in the next decade, don’t let your college experience be a forgettable waste of time. One thing we can all agree on is that it’s expensive to be here! And emotionally, it can be very expensive to put yourself and the things you care about out there as well. All I know is that I broke even and made bank from leaning in, and I want to see my peers as endowed as I feel (most of the time).
Join the Oracle, or don’t. I’m biased but not easily offended. Attend HUSC meetings, and use your voice to vote on the things that matter, or don’t. But no one will know that you were here if you don’t leave pieces of you behind. Make mistakes, get messy, learn a little, and love a lot. That’s all my wisdom, go gather yours. You’re finally here!