The Crow's Nest

Welcome to headquarters. I am not sure how you found this place, but now that you have I have some important information that will not be found in your orientation packets.

This ain’t gonna be your typical advice column that one would read in countless campus gazettes from coast to coast across this fine country. What follows is more along the lines of what your older brother or a friend’s sister who was a year or two ahead of you on the cross country team might pass along now that you are ready to head off into the brave new world.

First and foremost, you will not recognize the person you become after the four or five or six years it will take you to earn your bachelors degree. Regardless of what your parents and administrators might say, college is more than making grades; it is a time for personal growth that is perfectly situated in one’s life cycle. Be prepared to make mistakes, and be prepared to learn from them.

Secondly, visit your friends from senior high school who chose to attend other institutions of higher education. Visit them often, and be sure that they visit you here at USFSP. These voyages will be among the most rewarding of college memories. This is especially true if your actions start a virtual fraternity war at The Swamp that results in bonus points, or driving down Bruce B. Downs Boulevard with a sheet of plywood on top of a Mazda.

Piggybacking on number two, go to an away football and basketball game decked out in South Florida apparel. But don’t be an obnoxious fool—nobody likes those folks. We play Miami at Joe Robbie Stadium and at the new arena at UCF this year during the football and basketball seasons, respectively. Make the road trips and take the back roads.

Thirdly, knock a few back at The Tavern at Bayboro and then go for a walk through the stacks at the library. There is a lot of information that you do not know out there.

Fourth. Cops are not the enemy. Don’t put yourself in a position to have a negative encounter with Florida’s Finest.

Fifthly, your professors hold office hours for a reason. If you do not understand a subject matter, swing by and ask. It makes things tremendously easier later in the semester.

Sixthly. You are now in college. You are young. You have nothing else better to do (except maybe schoolwork, but that’s what Sundays are for, right?) Wrap the tool. When you drink, be safe about it.

Seventhly, read your student newspaper, The Crow’s Nest, weekly.

Be sure to have a good time over these next few years. Try to learn something both from the books, from life and about yourself.

fkurtz@mail.usf.edu