In high school, I had a friend I never made plans with. We’d make plans to hang out, yes, but we never knew where we would end up. We mutually agreed to drive until we saw a sign. During the course of high school, we ended up at numerous yard sales, dressed as cows advertising a bake sale, at the close of a Renaissance fair, at

a Quilt Show, and even Christmas Caroling in early January. Even if the events that transpired turned out to be ridiculous, we always managed to have a blast. And it never cost us more than $5.

Last semester, I helped found Suffolk Sketch Comedy. Have I ever done comedy before? Nope. Did I ever see myself as funny? Aw, hell no. But I love going into rehearsal twice a week and laughing for an hour with some really incredible, hysterical people. I used to watch SNL, Monty Python, even Youtube comedians, and wish I could do it with them. Why shouldn’t I? Nothing was stopping me but my own reservations.

This past semester, with InstaRamSU, I’ve attended some events that I would not have gone to a year ago. I admit, I would have seen the posters and ignored them for a night of Netflix and procrastination with my friends. Instead, in just the first month of school, I have watched student performers portray harsh reality in At Ease, seen the singer who sang the song that played when Snooki announced her pregnancy to the cast of Jersey Shore, and decorated mini pumpkin cheesecakes…all for free.

The way I see it – in a few years, I’ll be out in the real world. High school to college felt like a jump to the real world, but true reality has yet to hit. We’ll soon be plagued with responsibilities I don’t even want to think about – finding a career, mortgage, insurance payments, settling down, raising a family…That takes up a lot of time. There aren’t many times in your life left where you’ll actually be able to up and attend an event at whim, or try something just because you’ve never tried it before. Before we know it, we’ll have too much else on our plate or we’ll just be too damn old to start a new hobby or find entertainment in such bizarre activities.

Why not?
Take a chance.

Cheesy, yes, but you may find a part of you that you never realized was there.
That’s what I think college is really supposed to be about.