You've paid your dues. Now enjoy the next four years.

You've been waiting for years to go to college, to get away, to strike out on your own and to see what you can do. You've spent four years of your short life working hard in high school so that you could go to a place like Yale, one of the best universities in the world.

You probably spent hours completing useless assignments, days studying for those silly SATs, and years schlepping to an institution that existed more to oppress your existence than to uplift it.

Now that you're here, it's time to enjoy life a little. Why worry so much about your grades, your activities, and your major right now? You've got plenty of time for that later. You've got to live a little for once and have some fun.

Go to all the parties you never got around to going in high school. Start the rock band you always always wanted to start. Act in a play. Write even though you never did before. Paint. Who knows? Maybe you'll find some talent you never knew you had.

Freshman year is all about finding yourself, enjoying yourself, and—at least for the moment—not worrying about the consequences.

I'm not condoning lethargy. I spent my freshman year dabbling in tons of different activities and didn't really find what I liked until the beginning of my sophomore year. And I was not alone. Most of my freshman year friends were also trying to figure out what they wanted out of college.

We all had clean slates coming into Yale, and, for a change, we could mold ourselves any way we wanted. It was tough, though, and it required lots of time for leisurely exploration. We couldn't create our new castes hastily, lest we create something that really wasn't us.

After dozens of parties, hours of hanging out with each other, and a few experiences that I can't mention here, we found that we all had discovered something invaluable—a lot of fun, friends, and memories we'd never forget. When it comes down to it, that's what will make your Yale experience worthwhile. When you return to Yale for your 25th reunion, what are you going to remember? All the hours you spent studying in the library or all the adventures you had with your friends?

You'll most certainly find time to get all the work done. You'll find a major that really interests you. You'll find a few very involving activities. And you'll manage to come up with something that you want to do when you graduate.

There's plenty of time for all of that. Right now, go crazy. Do everything you always wanted to do and then some. Discover everything that Yale has to offer. You've never had this much freedom before, and you'll never have it again.

Seize the day!

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