Have you ever been a part of an investment project that you know has the ability to be very successful in the future? What about the time when you helped your mom or dad plant a vegetable garden in your backyard, knowing there would be fresh, colorful tomatoes, bell peppers or squash in a few months? To all the athletes out there, think back to that first practice of the season and the excitement you felt knowing that this team could compete for a district championship.
I have taken part in these life experiences listed above, and I have felt the invigorating excitement that comes with the beginning of something which will eventually be great. It is with this same excitement that I look upon Loyola’s centennial class of 2012, our new freshmen on this campus.
Although they have only been on this campus for about four weeks, I see enthusiasm, initiative and a dedication to student life that I feel this university needs. I believe this freshman class is an embodiment of where Loyola is going — in a positive direction and towards a more Jesuit-centered identity.
An interesting dynamic to this class is that although three years removed, many have had exposure to Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath through service trips to New Orleans as high school students. Jimmy Elcock, a new freshman on the Cardoner Leadership Floor from Boston, had been on several post-Katrina rebuilding service trips prior to becoming a student at Loyola. On these trips, he fell in love with the city and decided to enroll at Loyola as a part to continue his commitment to service.
Anyone can see the energy, excitement and dedication to service the class of 2012 is bringing to the university in many different areas. At the first Loyola Unversity Community Action Program meeting of the semester, over 125 people crammed into the new Mission and Ministry space to hear about the upcoming service projects. The Awakening Retreat had to close its sign-up list because so many freshmen had signed up, and the Ignacio Volunteer Jamaica Christmas camp received over 40 applications of students wanting to participate in the program.
Mission and Ministry is not the only area where these freshmen have become involved.
The first women’s volleyball games thus far have had huge turnouts due to an unexpected number of freshmen fans, and on the other side of campus in the theatre arts department, five new Loyola students will be in the November production “Spinning into Butter” — James McBride, Ashley Osbourn, Joshua Smith, Laura Friedmann and Andrew Chau.
I am a fifth year senior who has been very involved in student life, and just as I was with my vegetable garden and high school basketball team in the past, I am with the class of 2012 — optimistic.
In part due to the new Living Learning Communities, renovations of major buildings and a dedicated effort by the admissions team, Loyola seems to have recruited a dynamic, action-oriented, social justice centennial class, and I look forward to watching them grow. This is your time class of 2012. Take ownership. You are Loyola.
Greg Fontenot is a finance senior from Lafayette, La. He can be reached at [email protected].
