If you’re a freshman walking through the streets of Syracuse University in the beginning of school, strangers will undoubtedly patronize you as they cheer, “Freshmen!” This seemingly eternal tradition takes advantage of the naiveté of arriving on a college campus for the first time and all the confusion it entails.

But I wish I still found myself lost in the confusion of freshman orientation, because it was by being naïve that I best took advantage of campus life. And by embracing this campus, I embraced leadership.

It is widely accepted that during your undergraduate career, you will learn many life lessons and appreciate the value of education beyond the classroom. You will further define yourself as a unique individual and write many chapters of your book as well as draw your cover. You will compile unlimited stories to share, make lifelong friends, and develop real-world skills. And then, after all that, you will continue to learn.

Unfortunately, most students miss the opportunity to learn even more. And upon graduation, they may regret it. I have witnessed in previous years, as orientation week becomes more and more distant, students begin to make their friends, join their clubs and feel at home. This becomes more prevalent as semesters pass.

Why exploring campus activities when I can play video games with my floor-mates? Why visiting a language table, when I could sleep in on Friday morning? Why trying something new or meeting different people or taking a weird elective? Why being a freshman again?

Upperclassmen sometimes feel they are already someone. They are content. Syracuse, as a university community, and the city itself, offers unlimited opportunities to grow.

Some of my goals during freshman year included meeting someone from every major, visiting every building and attending one of every sporting event or club meeting.
While freshmen will surely look up to upperclassmen for leadership, upperclassmen should not be afraid to return to the adventurous spirit that freshmen embody. A rising need for young leaders (loosely defined ages 18-30) is the spirit one has as a toddler and only rediscovers as a first-year student at college.

It’s the adrenaline of wanting to try everything today instead of tomorrow, reasoning that often goes against common sense. Even though you know you have four years of partying ahead of you, you want to go all in, every Thursday through Saturday, and maybe even Monday, too.

It’s the opportunity to speak to a complete stranger on the bus without fear. To shake his or her hand, introduce yourself, and ask the same three boring questions (you know them). Not that you necessarily care, but more because you are hoping they have other questions to ask, in a desperate attempt to instantly make new best friends themselves.

These two qualities, embodied in the very experience of orientation week, are the same qualities that differentiate young leaders from any other demographic. Like every college student’s journey, a young leader must remember to never forget growing. That’s why young people are naturally leaders, because we have no other alternative. Leadership, after all, is about becoming someone; it is about who you are, not what you are.

Consider what you would want to do before graduating and remember not to define yourself too early on.

Ignacio is a junior international relations major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at ninavaau@syr.edu.

Published on August 28, 2013 at 12:52 am