As 2024 begins, my experience as a Laurier student has reached its final term.
It’s been four and a half years since I started attending Laurier. Upon reflecting on the time I spent, I’m filled with mixed emotions.
I have changed immensely throughout my time at university.
Going into university, my mindset about who I was and what I wanted to achieve differed significantly from my contemporary beliefs.
I’m a suburban kid, and I grew up in something of an upper middle class bubble.
As a result, I prioritized making friends on campus who were unfamiliar.
I lived in residence with four random students with whom I had no prior relationship.
I made an effort to talk with other students in class and make new kinds of friends.
Sometime between then and now, I regrettably stopped prioritizing that. I retreated to my bubble friends and began living with them instead.
Perhaps COVID is to blame or a more general malaise falling over me, but the reasons hardly matter.
While there was the occasional outsider friend I made, my social life remained confined to those in the same old bubble.
None of this is to say I resent my friends; I love them all dearly, but my biggest regret of university is not diversifying my interactions enough.
There are many interesting residents in the KW region; it would’ve been nice to get to know them.
However, one of the places I could mix with unfamiliar people was with The Cord.
Upon arriving at Laurier, I knew I wanted to pursue writing; I just didn’t know how to get involved.
Thankfully, I found The Cord, and I was given the freedom to write articles about essentially anything I found interesting.
This, along with The Cord’s welcoming community, led to me remaining with the publication for the rest of my university tenure.
My participation with The Cord and with Blueprint magazine allowed me to develop not just my writing but also my managerial and interviewing skills.
I learned a lot in my classes and talked to many wise and knowledgeable professors.
I pursued a major that unfortunately doesn’t lend itself well to having a career.
Following graduation, I intend on going to a local college to gain the tools required to make a career for myself.
It may appear then that my time at university may have, to some degree, been wasted; however, I strongly disagree with that.
I associate many more failures and highlights with the past half-decade, but at the end of the day, my time at Laurier has generally been positive towards me. It helped me develop a work ethic (that, while still needing work) my high school self could only dream of.
I now know how to talk to people professionally and casually. I understand myself better, as well as the world around me.
In June of this year, I will, hopefully, graduate.
While I wish I could turn back the clock and make some different decisions, I’m confident that feeling isn’t unique.
If Laurier has taught me anything it’s that sometimes, to find yourself and develop as a person, you must first learn from your mistakes
