Senior Reflections By Jaime Heilbron

Warning: This senior reflection you are about to read will most probably bore you right out of your mind (no, seriously), but I hope you at least take something out of it.

It is incredible how fast the past four years have flown by. I still remember vividly my first Colgate experience, which curiously enough, was the 2008 Maroon-News Pre-Orientation. From that first day filled with icebreakers to taking a picture with then-President Rebecca Chopp as one of the items in the scavenger hunt, it has been a wild ride and one that I would not give up.

While at the Maroon-News I feel I have made some great friends, which include but are not limited to the members of the Se-nior Staff, whom it has been great to get to know on a deeper level this past year, to cur-rent members of the section editing staff, as well as recent graduates (shout out to Paul Kasabian ’10, biggest fan of Colgate Athlet-ics besides me).

The Maroon-News has taught me several life lessons that I am sure will help me as I enter the real world. The main one is prob-ably that the worst thing one could do when the going gets tough is to quit or give up. As the old saying goes, “when one door closes another opens.” I have found this to be true. If one works hard enough and just keeps going, no matter the hardships he or she faces, that person will get a just reward.

If you simply quit or give up, you will not get that reward and not be able to enjoy the fruits of your hard work. For that reason, if you ever consider quitting whatever you’re doing, give it a couple of days, reflect on it, and if you still think it is the right decision and that you will not regret it, then go ahead and do it.

It doesn’t matter if it’s your job you’re thinking of quitting, an athletics team or a class you wish to withdraw from. It never hurts to sit down, give it some thought or even talk about it with someone else.

The other life lesson is that it is important to be respectful of other people’s opin-ions, even if they differ from your own. Out there in the workforce you are going to be dealing with people that hold different opinions and beliefs to your own on a day-to-day basis. If you disagree on something and you feel it is important enough that it cannot be kept quiet, make sure you’re polite when you make your point.

Finally, take as much as you can out of your four years at Colgate. This school, like most other institutions, obviously has its flaws and negatives, but the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Believe me, the four years go by quickly, and before you know it you have just lived past your last Spring Party Weekend and have entered the last few weeks before you graduate wondering where all the time went.

My final mention or shout out goes to the other group I was heavily involved with on campus, Colgate hockey and in a wider margin, the Athletics Department. Col-gate is a truly unique place in the sense that it is a small liberal arts college of 2,900 students that, at the same time, is able to field a program in Division I Athletics and a strong one at that.

This year alone, the school’s community has been able to enjoy exciting seasons from two players who were arguably the best players in their respective collegiate sports: senior Austin Smith, who was Colgate’s first top three finalist for the Hobey Baker Award and junior Peter Baum, who is a strong candidate for the Tewaarton Trophy, both the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

This coming weekend, both the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams will be battling for conference championships and a place in the NCAA Tournament. The men have the opportunity to do so at home and I urge you to go out and support them.

Contact Jaime Heilbron at [email protected].