To the incoming class of Radford University students: I am overly excited for you to get to campus! And I am not the only one who is excited for your new faces to be around campus! There are so many people at this university who are planning and waiting for you to flood the halls of our residence halls and academic buildings.

I know there are plenty of letters out there to "upcoming college freshmen" or "to the freshmen from a senior." These letters are probably offering you up some advice as to how to make the most of your first year of college. This is not that kind of letter.

My name is Sarah Derrick. I will be a junior on campus next year. You can find me in Starbucks sitting at one of the community tables working on something at least six days of the week when I am not in class (or least I am somewhere in the College of Humanities & Behavioral Sciences). I am a real life student attending Radford University and I have a dire message to extend to you all.

You are currently in the stage where you have been accepted into Radford University. For some of you, you are thrilled about attending Radford University – I am right there with you – and for some of you, you are hoping you get off a waitlist somewhere else because Radford University wasn't your first choice.

This letter is for the upcoming students who want to go to college but are not completely sold on Radford University.

And, I will put my last few dollars on the reason you are not sold on Radford University has to do something along the lines of:

You have been told Radford University is a school for people who "party;" that Radford is Virginia's "partying school." Because Radford is often labeled as a "partying school," you feel like you have to justify going to Radford University to your friends.

The reason I am writing to the students who are not completely sold on this university is because I was once that student.

I was the student who felt like I had to justify that I go to Radford University.

I understand why you feel the way you do. But I want to let you in on something that you don't know yet.

Radford University is far more than a partying school. Radford University has more to offer you than what people are telling you it does.

Admissions will tell you that we have great class sizes (which is very true) and that you are able to have relationships with professors (which is also very true) but our university is more than even that.

Those are great things about the university but let's be honest, you are a student, your friends are also students: you don't talk about class sizes with your friends. You talk about things like school spirit, what major you want to be, and what you are going to do with your free time.

That last subject "what you are going to do with your free time" is what you get caught up talking about to your friends. Whether you and your friends talk about joining clubs, playing sports or partying – you live with knowing that your friends already think that your only option is to go out and party.

The reality is that that is far from the truth. There are so many things you can do. You can go on a weekend backpacking trip for Radford University Outdoor Programs. You can go to any of the RU After Dark programming put on by RSpace. You have access to academic buildings on the weekend (Young is open 24/7 to students that hold a student ID). Get involved by becoming a tour guide through Admissions; you'll be able to give tours to new incoming students and their families. There are so many opportunities available to students on our campus.

Radford University gives you an honest chance to become the person you want to be and gives you the chance to intentionally build your life into what you want it to be.

There are professors here that only want you to thrive. There are opportunities here for you to be pushed academically – that is not exclusive to Virginia Tech or Virginia. There are chances for you to build your life as a professional. There are chances for you to build a lively social life. And yes, there are going to be chances for you to go and party but you don't have to do that if you don't want to.

There are resources provided by this campus, the faculty, the staff, and other students for you to be whoever you want to be.

Radford University is far more than what people make it seem, come and see for yourself. Come find me, in Starbucks, and talk to me about it. I am pleading with you that you go to Quest, you sign up for your classes and you give my beloved university the chance it deserves because this place is going to change your life for the better.