Emily Rachelle Writes

#5 5/2/2018 Dear Freshman, This series didn't really go the way I expected. I had a lot of big, vague ideas with not a lot of direction. I 'planned' for several letters, meaning I made a list of one-word topics and assumed I'd remember what I meant months later. Let's just say that's not the most effective approach to blogging. But here we are. I've shared my senior year experiences and how they compare to the dreams and realities I had as a freshman. I told you about the types of friends I made in college, and how friendship doesn't fit into templates or rules. I listed the most important pieces to my (admittedly still developing) time management skills. And I narrated a few of the many, many pieces of identity that are often explored and discovered in college.

Don't forget: today is the last day to enter my Spring Cleaning Giveaway ! # 4 4/25/18 Dear Freshman, This year, I've heard the phrase "identity politics" a lot. I guess the idea is that people let their identities dictate their political stances and alliances instead of grouping together by party. I've never understood why saying something like "hey, LGBTQ people deal with unique problems everyone else doesn't, and I'm part of an LGBTQ group trying to do something about that" is so horrible, but political talk makes everyone jumpy and irrational, I guess. The concept of identity and how it shapes your opinions, worldview, lifestyle, and choices is nothing new, though. And it's a huge part of the college experience. Let's talk a little about some of the pieces that make up a person's identity, and how we think about them differently in a college environment. This letter is going to be limited in what I can teach based on my...

The series is finally back, with a few more letters before I graduate. I know it's been a while, so you can go back and read the beginning of the series if you'd like. # 3 4/11/18 Dear Freshman, There are a lot of sayings out there about time. Trust me, I'm as sick of them as you are, so let's skip the mottos and platitudes and get straight to the point. In college, your most hoarded resource, possibly even more than money, will be time. So if you know how to budget it from the start, life will be a whole lot easier as you go. Everyone in college talks about time management, but what does that really look like? Honestly, an effective system is different for every person. There is no one-size-fits-all. But there are a few common factors to successful time management and fitting your needs and your wants into a realistic schedule.

#2 10/4/17 Dear Freshman, When you come to college, you'll have a lot of ideas about friendship. I came to school with expectations. I would make friends with my orientation class. I would bond with the people in my dorm. Ten years from now, my roommate and I would still be talking every month. Life never meets expectations.

#1 9/27/17 Dear Freshman, It's been roughly a month since I started my senior year of college. I've been looking back on my college experience and doing the "self-reflecting" thing a lot. It's weird, being one of the older students on campus. I see the (many) freshmen on my floor. I notice the questions they ask me, how they listen to my stories, nod with alert eyes. They expect me to know the campus, to have an inside scoop on life here. It's an odd sort of respect, the kind you give to someone who is technically your peer but you view in a different position. I feel very strange to be on this end of it. How did I get here, and so fast?