I’ve always wondered when you grow up. When do you reach that time in your life when you stop being an impressionable young mind and become the one making impressions? When do you finally reach the point where no one can tell you you’re too young anymore? And — most importantly to me for reasons to be disclosed later — when do you stop building character?
If I learn one thing from college it won’t be anything I’ve learned in the variety of classes Cal State Long Beach has forced on me. It won’t even be something I learned in one of my beloved journalism classes. It will be that the answer to all the questions listed above is never — and I’ll probably never decide if I like that answer or not.
While living in “Never, Never Land” might not be an option, you can opt to only partially grow up. College is that wonderful transition period when you’re free from the institutionalized torture that is high school, but you’re not quite thrown to the mercy of the so-called real world.
You can stay up late, have ice cream for breakfast and even go to class on-time. But don’t let the idea of the real world get you down, either. As far as I’m concerned you’re never too old to stay up late, have ice cream for breakfast and show up to work on-time. Better yet — be the boss and show up whenever.
It wasn’t until late this summer, when a group of high school students toured the Daily Forty-Niner newsroom that I learned I can make impressions on young lives. These budding journalists were genuinely interested in what I had to say, what my staff and I do on a daily basis, and some of them may even have been inspired to strive for what I’ve accomplished in my time at CSULB.
While I was making an impression on them, they, in turn, impressed me. This particular group of students willingly gave up some of their remaining summer days to come to the basement of the SSPA building and learn more about journalism. I don’t know if I would have done that at their age.
Actually, I probably would not have.
It’s been made quite clear to me — mostly by my mother — that I will never out grow being too young. As long as someone older than me exists, I will be too young to understand. Fortunately, there are some nice advantages to growing older because, while relatives may remind you you’re too young, the government eventually nods approval of certain activities as you reach birthday milestones.
When your 21st birthday rolls around and people try to tell you that you behaved immaturely, feel free to answer, “I’m too young to know any better.”
College isn’t all lollipops and hopscotch. Sometimes bad things happen.
But when they do, it’s important to remember one thing — it builds character. Whatever it is, it builds character. And while no one may be able to tell you exactly what kind of character it’s building, just know that you’ll have it.
When something gets stolen from you, say for example a brand new bike or expensive wallet, don’t cry over the lost possession. Instead, embrace the character that follows the thief to replace what was taken. If you accidentally total your car, don’t mourn the busted headlights. Instead thrive on the opportunity to find new and exciting ways to travel around town.
You can wallow in self-pity or lie and tell yourself that things will get better tomorrow, but no one likes to go to pity parties and tomorrow might be worse. So just laugh whatever it is off and remind yourself that you’re going to have more character because of it.
Today, if someone were to ask me what advice I have for new students, I would simply say, “Don’t waste your time wondering when your parents are going to consider you a grown-up. Don’t feel like you can’t make an impression. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being ‘too young’ and it builds character.”
Now that those questions have all been answered, you can focus on the important things, like what you were thinking when you scheduled your next class across campus. Run quickly!
Colleen Donnelly is a senior journalism major and the Editor in Chief of the Daily Forty-Niner.
I’ve always wondered when you grow up. When do you reach that time in your life when you stop being an impressionable young mind and become the one making impressions?
When do you finally reach the point where no one can tell you you’re too young anymore? And — most importantly to me for reasons to be disclosed later — when do you stop building character?
If I learn one thing from college it won’t be anything I’ve learned in the variety of classes Cal State Long Beach has forced on me. It won’t even be something I learned in one of my beloved journalism classes. It will be that the answer to all the questions listed above is never — and I’ll probably never decide if I like that answer or not.
While living in “Never, Never Land” might not be an option, you can opt to only partially grow up. College is that wonderful transition period when you’re free from the institutionalized torture that is high school, but you’re not quite thrown to the mercy of the so-called real world.
You can stay up late, have ice cream for breakfast and even go to class on-time. But don’t let the idea of the real world get you down, either. As far as I’m concerned you’re never too old to stay up late, have ice cream for breakfast and show up to work on-time. Better yet — be the boss and show up whenever.
It wasn’t until late this summer, when a group of high school students toured the Daily Forty-Niner newsroom that I learned I can make impressions on young lives. These budding journalists were genuinely interested in what I had to say, what my staff and I do on a daily basis, and some of them may even have been inspired to strive for what I’ve accomplished in my time at CSULB.
While I was making an impression on them, they, in turn, impressed me. This particular group of students willingly gave up some of their remaining summer days to come to the basement of the SSPA building and learn more about journalism. I don’t know if I would have done that at their age. Actually, I probably would not have.
It’s been made quite clear to me — mostly by my mother — that I will never out grow being too young. As long as someone older than me exists, I will be too young to understand.
Fortunately, there are some nice advantages to growing older because, while relatives may remind you you’re too young, the government eventually nods approval of certain activities as you reach birthday milestones.
When your 21st birthday rolls around and people try to tell you that you behaved immaturely, feel free to answer, “I’m too young to know any better.”
College isn’t all lollipops and hopscotch. Sometimes bad things happen. But when they do, it’s important to remember one thing — it builds character. Whatever it is, it builds character. And while no one may be able to tell you exactly what kind of character it’s building, just know that you’ll have it.
When something gets stolen from you, say for example a brand new bike or expensive wallet, don’t cry over the lost possession. Instead, embrace the character that follows the thief to replace what was taken. If you accidentally total your car, don’t mourn the busted headlights. Instead thrive on the opportunity to find new and exciting ways to travel around town.
You can wallow in self-pity or lie and tell yourself that things will get better tomorrow, but no one likes to go to pity parties and tomorrow might be worse. So just laugh whatever it is off and remind yourself that you’re going to have more character because of it.
Today, if someone were to ask me what advice I have for new students, I would simply say, “Don’t waste your time wondering when your parents are going to consider you a grown
-up. Don’t feel like you can’t make an impression. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being ‘too young’ and it builds character.”
Now that those questions have all been answered, you can focus on the important things, like what you were thinking when you scheduled your next class across campus. Run quickly!
Colleen Donnelly is a senior journalism major and the Editor in Chief of the Daily Forty-Niner.