A man I respect more than anyone else once told me that every morning when I wake up, I should “think of all the opportunity that has been given to me today,” and start my day accordingly. This advice was given to me as a way to look at difficult situations and change my mindset for the challenges ahead of me in life and my daily routine. It was a tool to frame challenges as opportunities, to be an optimist when situations look bleak. This advice has proven to be immensely powerful to me in managing my stress level, how I approach problems and how I go about my life every day. But I do not want to discuss managing one’s stress, happiness and life outlook. I want to talk about the real power behind this advice. The truth behind these words is taking its literal meaning: it is realizing that being a University of Virginia student offers us unparalleled opportunities every day.
This past week, a group of fourth-year friends and I were talking about the semester, and we came to the realization that we are rapidly approaching final exams. This was terrifying not from an academic standpoint, but from the painful reminder that we are only a little more than a semester away from walking down the Lawn and into the real world. This realization, I believe, is what gives some real power to this message — not only for fourth-year students, but for anyone at U.Va. who reads this column. We all have a limited amount of time here at this special place, and it would be wrong not to wake up and seize the opportunities that have been given to us.
I want to challenge everyone to make a change to their U.Va. experience as it currently is. Opportunity at U.Va. comes in many different shapes and forms. It can be taking a class that you wouldn’t have taken otherwise, because you realize that this may be the last semester you will ever have to sit in a classroom and have the opportunity to learn about a new concept. It could be exploring what the University has to offer in the way of the arts. It could even be as small as checking out the observatory and having the opportunity to gaze at the stars.
Opportunity doesn’t even have to be related to academics. It could be cheering on a sport you have never watched before. It could be stepping up and taking on a project for a CIO you are involved in. It could be meeting new friends or going to a new spot on the Corner. It could be going to a Trustees event. It could be asking someone out on a date. It could even be just talking to someone new and breaking the mold of your daily routine. It could be anything. It just has to be something new, something that Virginia has given you an opportunity to take advantage of, that you wouldn’t have done otherwise.
The point I’m trying to make is that we need to make the most of our time here at U.Va. This school offers a distinctive blend of academics, student self-governance, extracurricular breadth and diversity of people, backgrounds and experiences. It gives us access to knowledge and experiences that will never be so readily at our fingertips than they are right now. It will never be as easy to meet new people as it is now and we should take advantage of getting to know a diverse set of world views and outlooks on life. This place offers us a tremendous amount of opportunity to try new things and we only have four years to take advantage of it. I am not asking you to make drastic changes: just make some kind of change. I know I have been guilty of following my daily routine and not stepping out of my comfort zone. But when I have broken out of my daily mold, I have found those instances to be the most rewarding parts of my U.Va. experience, and I think we should all seize this “opportunity that has been given to us” to make the very most of our time at the University.
Brandon Moores is a fourth-year Commerce student and the president of Fourth-Year Trustees.
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