Dear Seniors,
This is it: your final welcome back. Your senior year. The last stretch of your undergraduate education. How does it feel?
I remember, from my own time as a student at Trinity, how harrowing the future seemed at the beginning of my senior year. The idea that this would end, that a new, entirely unknown future lie ahead, seemed shocking and dangerous — though also, on good days, thrilling. Senior year is special not only because college is ending and a new phase of life is beginning; it can also sharpen the attention you pay to your purpose in life.
Where do your gifts, interests and the world’s needs intersect? You’ve hopefully asked this already, probably many times, but now the question is urgent. Urgency can cause weird behavior, like panic. Panic can result in quick decisions that do not necessarily help you (or the world): decisions like going to law school when your passion is the study of literature or deciding to tour with your band when your gifts lie in chemical engineering.
But urgency can also distill things, sharpening focus. Leaning over the precipice, the mind has a way of shedding distractions and seeing what’s most important. Survival first. Then joy. Play. Abundance. Interesting experiences that deepen your connections with others. Long, challenging journeys that broaden the soul and build contributions that last: a house, family, career, novel, research project, campaign to feed the homeless, or discoveries that help others live longer and more happily.
Contrary to popular belief, college is not the best time of your life, at least not if you do it right. It is perhaps the most stimulating, transformative, and liberating (in some ways), but the stages that come next — the next few decades — have the potential to be like a slow burning fire: deep, satisfying, meaningful, peaceful, strong, and impactful.
How will you respond to the urgency of your senior year? Panic or focus? Which will win? There will be moments of both, but the one you feed is the one that will shape this final year of your undergraduate education, and, therefore, your future. Whether you are applying for graduate school, jobs, or internships, let your mind become clear. The only difference between terror and exhilaration, as a wise person once said, is a deep breath.
Kyle Gillette
Class Marshal
