I remember when I used to read The Daily Free Press in the West Campus dining hall before I had my own column. I always thought that I could manage having a column of my own in the paper. After giving it a go this semester, I have to say that I’m glad I was able to write for readers in my last semester at Boston University.
It was interesting trying to find my voice as a columnist. When I started writing, I figured that I would be the type of person that would complain about things that annoyed me around campus. But that changed, and soon I became a Yoda-hippie columnist. I was quick to consider myself wise and hoped to encourage students to think about their everyday actions.
However, as the semester got going this also became a place for me to vent. If I was disappointed about my skating, I could come here and write about it and feel better after I got the disappointment out of my system. Or I could share the good things that were happening to me as I prepared for graduation. Whatever my present emotional state was at the time, it was nice to have an audience, because having a readership made me feel pretty special.
I often wonder who reads my column. I remember that before I wrote for this paper I would think of things that I would like to say to the columnists, but I would never email them, because I was too shy to voice my thoughts. I wonder if anyone I don’t know reads this column on a weekly basis, or if anyone has ever wanted to respond to something that I wrote. I want to believe that my words have reached one stranger on campus, and even though I have never talked to them in person, I’ve reached them through this paper.
Even though my time here is up I’m still finding my voice, as a writer and in life, but that’s okay. There have been some columns of mine that I have loved and some that I thought were too preachy or too boring. But maybe that’s how I am from time to time – preachy and boring. If I had it all figured out now, then there would be no incentive to improve and nothing to look forward to in life.
I’m glad that I have things to improve upon – not only in writing, but in life. It has been an adventure writing for The Daily Free Press. It’s nice to have this record of how crazy my life was before I graduated from Boston University. Thanks for reading, and if there’s something I’ve learned from writing this column it’s to just go for the goals or daydreams that you want to achieve in life, and see where they take you.
It’s okay if what you do isn’t perfect the first time you do it. As long as you have good intentions, and you give it your best effort, you will have fond memories to treasure for years to come.
Maria Gellepes is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. She can be reached at mg887@bu.edu.
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