Ah, to be a freshmen again. There is just something about being 18 and on your own for the first time and facing all the lessons college life has to offer with an invincible attitude.

I remember my first day. I was so excited. I woke up hours early for my 9:30 a.m. class. I walked out of the dormitory with my campus map still in my messenger bag, and I sat in the front row ready to learn what my high school teachers were unable to teach. I was ready to learn exactly how to do everything I needed to fulfill my career plans and become responsible, successful and important.

I was so eager. This was it. This was college. This was where I would start the rest of my life. That spirit began to fade over the years- the spirit to wake up early, to sit in the front row and shower before class. By senior year, you get the attitude of wanting to get it over with, to move on to something bigger and better. Classes become something you just go to. With graduation so near, tests seem trivial and all you can think about is how to get a job, support yourself and be that huge success your parents keep seeing in you.

This is why I’m glad to see the new freshmen each year. They appreciate how great college really is. College is the place where you struggle, fail, learn and try again. College teaches you about yourself, your strengths, your embarrassments. It’s in college where you realize that you, singularly, can make a difference. It’s a sensational point in your life, and freshmen are filled with all the vigor of the moment.

Freshmen see this as their time to get involved, to do community service and to take classes seriously. They have an eagerness about them that is contagious. You can always tell the freshmen in the crowd. They are the most curious, excited, nervous and, well, fresh.

They seem to shine with opportunity. Throughout life, they’ve heard to “shoot for the moon” and that “you can do anything you put your mind to.” They have yet to comprehend all of the time spent in the library, all nighters and all the energy drinks it takes.

I’m not going to be the one to ruin it for them because their naiveté is a mindset we should all still cherish. Yes, college gets hard, but that was not what we worried about when we made our decision to come.

We thought more about the doors that would open and the achievements we would make. I’m glad to see their new faces each year. They remind us why we are here. We can reach the moon. We can still do anything we put our minds to.

Thank you, class of 2012, for the annual reminder of what college should be about: not the stress and cramming, but the ability to become something more. Keep that spirit, and college will be simple.