My tenure at Colgate has been, well, long. I have seen two presidents (Colgate and of the United States) and watched Colgate embarrass themselves by trying to unveil an unfinished science center (roll out and roll up sod all in the same day). I remember a wonderful restaurant downtown called Numero Uno’s (where Rusch’s is now) and when Main Moon was the only ethnic food available in Hamilton. In fact, I was recently reminded of the first time I saw Colgate while being trampled by a group of prospective students during April Visit Days.

When I came to Colgate for April Visit Days, Case was under construction, Ho was just a lecture room in Lawrence, Phi Tau was the library and a slice was just $1.25. Much like Colgate, I have changed over the years. I’ve gone from Pre-Med to Environmental Geography (thanks to Professor Scull’s Intro to Physical Geography class or whatever they call it now), from trying to sneak into Nichols to spending a summer with Greg at the bar at the Hour Glass, and from hating to finally realizing that Frank brunch is awesome.

Throughout these years, I would like to think I have learned a thing or two, or at least my parents hope so. Seeing as this is the first (and last) written piece of mine to ever appear in the Maroon-News, I will keep this short and sweet and leave you with a few tidbits of advice, wisdom and warning.

Get out of Hamilton – Leave, just leave; burst that Colgate bubble. Whether it is for a semester abroad, a year off from school or just for dinner at the Beaver Den in Brookfield (I suggest Fridays for their fish fry), there is a world outside of Colgate. For everything Colgate can teach you, there are a million things that it cannot. Even just recognizing that will make you a better student and person. Do not be afraid, the outside world is coming (I’m still trying to get over this).

Now, come back to Hamilton – The best thing I ever did while at Colgate was to spend a summer in Hamilton. Almost everything you dislike about Colgate disap-pears for the summer. You can park anywhere and at anytime on campus and you can even find a parking space downtown during lunch. Hamilton and its residents exhale during the summer, and when their guard is down, they are some of the nic-est people you will ever meet. Colgate be-comes that postcard your parents have up on the refrigerator. Everything is in bloom, the sun is always out and Lake Moraine is not covered in six inches of ice.

Please learn some humility – Colgate students are some of the smartest, kindest and most talented people I have ever met. And they know it. And this, per se, is not a bad thing. But when this attitude leaks into the inebriated or defensive Colgate student, you have one messy recipe for an obnoxious, entitled jerk.

Everyone messes up or is wrong from time to time (just look at my exams from Intro to Econ), but it is how you conduct yourself after your mistake that will deter-mine how others truly see you. Whether you have had one too many and are sway-ing on the street corner arguing with the police about relieving yourself behind the post office or continue to argue with a professor over the finer points of a lecture you probably were not paying attention to in the first place, just stop and think for a moment, or longer, about what comes out of your mouth or what you are about to do. You and the world will be better off for it.

Hopefully my advice will help you discover or experience one thing you did not know about Colgate or Hamilton. But if not, sorry I’m not sorry.

Contact Seth Greene at [email protected].