Don't argue with me over the awesomeness of classic Foreigner!
I had a depressing thought Saturday, which was the 17th anniversary of the day I moved in at Hofstra: The transfer students moving in over the weekend were very likely no more than three years old when I arrived in Hempstead as a transfer student. And this year’s freshmen were a year or two old. Get off my damn lawn.
Fortunately, the equal parts excitement and abject terror that accompany going away to college are timeless, and so it is that I can still have an idea of what the newcomers are thinking today as classes begin, even though today’s teenagers and 20-somethings are far cooler than I ever was (a short hurdle to clear, that).
As if to embody how uncool I was and remain, I cranked the above tune before my first class—some horrendously boring communications theory class, I think—17 years ago Monday morning. Yes, it was and is cheesy, but it was also perfect for a kid from a small town who felt ready to take on the big city and was certain the next two years would be the best, most pivotal and most defining of his life.
And I was right, except it took three years.
Whether you are a freshman or a transfer, you’ll probably never feel this way again, never have such an opportunity to start anew and have such a clean canvas on which you can design your future. Enjoy it, embrace it and savor it, because these will be the best years of your life.
And do what so few of your predecessors have done by also enjoying, embracing and savoring your school’s athletic program. Hofstra will test your patience and your loyalty, on and especially off the field, but there’s nothing finer than rooting for a mid-major and enjoying a connection you’d never have at a bigger school.
So with that in mind, stop back later today or first thing tomorrow for our second annual Defiantly Dutch primer—the same as last year, but much different too! And after you crank some Foreigner, take notes for me in that communication class, because I’m going to hit snooze on my alarm clock until about noon.
Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.
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