Dear West Chester University,
It’s funny when opportunity strikes in unexpected ways. It’s jarring to experience, especially when it drops into your lap before you even have time to process what the opportunity is. In a job where flexibility is a must and deadlines are ever-looming, The Quad has consistently served as a constant influx of surprising opportunity.
It’s a paradox, really. Working for a newspaper means deadlines. Deadlines, deadlines and maybe one, occasional, flexible deadline. It almost seems paradoxical to believe that a job in which this is the norm can foster an environment where opportunities are new, fresh and exciting day after day.
Opportunities create memories, and memories are the very things we hold onto the most. At the end of the day, nothing is as important as the happiness you derive from the memories and fun, exciting times you spend by yourself or with others.
This week, I encourage West Chester to take advantage of opportunities, even if they seem unfit for you or your world of experience. Opportunities that challenge what you are capable of are the ones that force you with a kind, firm hand to grow outside your own boundaries and thrive in the new sense of self you create along the way. It’s an incredible, indescribable experience.
Really, this is a long-winded way of encouraging everybody reading this to challenge yourself and take hold of what makes you fulfilled. It’s nothing more than what the “real adults” of our world tell us every day. It’s something that they, surprisingly enough, tend to be right about more often than not.
Sincerely,
Samantha Walsh