...to the greatest adventure of your life

College is the time of change. You'll change drastically between when you arrive here in New Haven and four years later when you graduate. College may be the best time of your life, but it is only temporary. Four years of your life will go by inside Yale's hallowed halls, but then you'll leave the Elm City. The first time you step into Yale this fall, though, you'll never want to leave again.

I'll admit that I'm a little sad right now. As I write this, the seniors are making their way back from Commencement to clean out their rooms and end their tenure at Yale. But in that sadness is joy, too, because the 1,350 freshmen in the Class of 2004 (that would be you) will bring new experiences, ideas, and interests to this little community. And that's what Yale really is, a community—one with many individuals who all contribute in some way to each other and to the University.

A community is nothing without the people within it, and this is certainly true of Yale. It would be nothing were it not for the extraordinary students here. Each one of your classmates is amazing at something. In just your first few weeks here, you're going to find people who excel at everything under the sun, including things you never even knew existed. Your roommate might be an Olympic-class squash player; your suitemates could include the Ayn Rand Essay Contest winner and a brilliant budding scientist.

And then there's you. Whether you've already published a book or barely gotten up the courage to submit something to your high school's literary mag, Yale is a level playing field for everyone. You could almost call it a blank slate—you're free to stick to your strengths or reinvent yourself. Or both, if you prefer. You're probably going to discover that you're incredibly talented in a field that you'd never even considered before. Even if your high school had an Anti-Gravity Society, or a Freestyle Dueling Association (both highly unlikely), there will still be a few new doors for you to open. It's all about change—even if you try to fight it, you're going to leave Yale a very different person from when you arrived. But I have yet to find someone who has changed for the worse. We've all grown into ourselves, into the person we'd like to be. Yale helped us along the road.

FILE PHOTO Yale's best-looking newspaper staff welcomes you to four great years. It'll be the best time of your life.

College is going to be a lot different than anything you're used to. It's like a cross between boarding school and kindergarten—you can play or study as much as you want, but you're also away from your parents or any real supervision. Come to think of it, learning to share a tiny suite with three other college students is a lot like learning not to hog the fingerpaints. If you can't learn to get along with each other, someone is going to end up outside crying in the sandbox (or Cross Campus, as the case may be). But, just like when you were five years old, everything will work out in the end, and soon enough you and your suitemates will be back laughing on each other's shoulders.

Expect to be blown away by much of what Yale has to offer. College is, after all, about getting an education, and Yale will give you the best there is to have. You'll learn so much in the next four years that at times (mostly during finals) it will seem like your brain is going to explode. But if you made it to Yale, you're used to packing a lot of information into your head. Just remember that college will not break you—finals will eventually be over, your seminar paper will get written. Workloads that would have seemed impossibly heavy in high school will become just another thing to do between practice and pitchers at Naples.

While your tolerance for work will definitely increase, it's mostly the influence of your friends that will pull you through your years here. I've had some of the most profound discussions of my life at 2 a.m. lying under the stars with a few friends in the Saybrook courtyard. That is what you'll remember when you, like the Class of 2000 that is now walking away from me, pack up and leave Yale.

So embrace it all, if you're strong enough. It does take a certain amount of courage (or blind faith) to jump headfirst into Yale life. But once you take the plunge, you will never regret it.

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