Like a lot of undergraduates my age (23) and older, I didn’t have a very typical post high school experience. I took a handful of classes at three separate community colleges, pursuing athletic training, then firefighting, then teaching. I spent a lot of time working a number of random jobs at various times as well. I’ve been a lifeguard, a Papa John’s pizza boy, a swim lesson instructor, a student ministries (middle school and high school) church intern, a painter, a college writing tutor, a swim team coach, a Microsoft software tester…

I've worked a lot of jobs, ok? There was a time, though, when I thought my college career was over. I had a great job with room to move up. I was married happily, making decent money, living in a great place…life was good. To be honest, I probably could have worked there for the rest of my career. But there was one thing that bothered me, nagging at the back of my mind from time to time.

I was 22. Many of my friends from high school were now graduates, or were still in the throes of their education. They were getting degrees and getting jobs they wanted in the field they had studied. Those still in school would talk about the programs they were involved with, the clubs they were in, the choir they had joined, the play they had auditioned for. My brother was in college in California, and it seemed like every time I talked to him, he was doing something new and cool (joining a band or entering a talent show).

Although I liked my job, I knew that there was an experience I had missed by taking the path I did. Of course there were things I experienced which they didn’t experience. It goes both ways. But there were so many opportunities for those people in college, things to do and invest in! The opportunities seemed endless, and as I chugged away in the workplace, I was mighty envious of those experiences I wouldn’t have.

This all changed in December of 2015.

After a long chat with my wife about what we wanted to do with our lives, we decided if I was going to back to school to be a teacher, it was a now or never kind of thing. We held our breaths and took a leap of faith into the unknown, quitting my job when I learned I had been accepted to Northwest University. After settling in to the rhythm of school for a week or so, Icouldn’t bear it any longer. I was here. I was living on campus at college, surrounded by incredible people, an incredible God, and incredible opportunities.

Since then, I’ve pretty much tried to gobble up every opportunity I possibly could. I was in the school’s production of Shakespeare’sA Midsummer Night’s Dream, playing the part of the loveable ass Nick Bottom. I’ve taken a job as an intern at the college admissions office on campus, and I now write for the school paper. Intermural football season is here, and you can bet your hat I’ll be taking part in that. There’s school clubs and shows and games every place I turn. I want to do them all, but there are only so many hours in the day!

It is with this background now that I write to those of you who are freshmen in college. Whether you just graduated high school or you’re just starting after years away from a school, I plead with you…

Make the most of your time here.

I’m not some old guy by any means. I’m not much older than most of you. But I have been at a place in my life when I mourned the lack of opportunities that now surround you everywhere you look. Take some advice from a guy who’s been to theother side. You won’t find any place as rich in opportunities as your college is. Mostcompanies don’t have company plays. Few business owners have wrote for the neighborhood paper. Recreational sports leagues can beexpensive, yet while in college and living in dorms, there are tons of people ready to toss the Frisbee. Focus on your studies, but don’t take the amazing things around you for granted. Dive in, do something new, do something hard, do something exciting, and make your college experience one you’ll look back on for years to come.