Sit, stay a while

So you’re here.

You’re at Ryerson. Whether you chose this place for a program you can’t find anywhere else, or for its hip downtown campus or for Sheldon Levy’s grinning visage, you’re here.

And while you’re here, you may as well make yourself at home.

See, here’s the thing. There’s a prevailing sense that students at Ryerson don’t care. That students at Ryerson are apathetic hipsters that go to class, then go home.

I mean sure — there’s that guy Dave who gets really wasted at frosh and decides to paint himself blue and gold then run down Gould Street screaming, “Go Rams!” But besides Dave, who really cares as long as you get that degree at the end?

It’s a stereotype that has carried over from the bad old days when we were called Rye High. But, I’ll say say two things about people who think no-one on campus cares.

First, those people are wrong. And second, fuck those people.

There’s some pretty hard evidence that people on campus do care, deeply, about their school and their home away from home. Maybe it’s not in all the traditional ways that Ye Olde University of Westminstershire might have showed spirit, but students here care.

Over the course of my years here, I’ve seen too many brilliant people create and (sorry for using this word) innovate on campus. I’ve seen too many people spend the night on a couch in the SCC (or a sleeping bag in The Eyeopener offices), and yes, even cheer for our sports teams.

If there’s one piece of advice I can give you, dear froshie, it’s not to get sucked into the vacuum of not giving a shit. No matter what program you’re in, no matter how lame Dave might seem, you will have a lot more fun, learn a lot more and meet so many amazing people by just giving a damn.

You don’t have to join 17 clubs and run the debate society and impress your dean. You don’t have to throw your studies to the wind, and although those couches in the SCC are pretty soft, you can go home at night.

But, no matter how small your involvement, get involved. At the risk of sounding a little bit like a clichéd acceptance package, don’t let your four years of school slip by.

Sure, you might end up in some unexpected places. You might even end up parading down Gould Street in a lion costume. But take it from someone who’s been there — it is so worth it.

So, noble frosh of 2015, welcome to the ride of your very young lives.

I hope it’s wild.