Senior Column: Learn to appreciate the changes you see in yourself

It sounds clich?©, but going to college is supposed to be a time for self-growth and maturity.

Even more clich?© is that you will likely leave your college experience feeling like a totally different person than when you arrived for move-in day or first day of class freshman year.

If it all goes well, you walk away different in a good way; more confident, level-headed, smarter (thanks tuition dollars) and ready to take on the world.

This is a message for current freshmen finally settling into their Seton Hall careers in their second semester, and more importantly for seniors, most of whom already have one foot out of the door.

The personal changes you undergo throughout your years at the university should not be something you fear or resist. They should be embraced.

Looking back, I see myself in fall 2010, my first semester at Seton Hall, as just a kid, 18 years old and na??ve in thinking everything I would ever need to know in life I had already learned.

I was in college, but learning was not a priority; I was enrolled simply to reap the rewards of a degree at the end of four years.

I had my mind set on my major, and eventual career path. I had no reason to doubt that any of that would change.

It was time to coast through the coming years and enjoy the ride.

In reflecting, it seems I was quite immature and selfish.

Well lo and behold, several changes of my major were to take place, along with the building of many relationships and new experiences that opened my eyes to parts of life I never thought I would be interested in. I changed my perspectives on how I was going to live life post-graduation.

If there is a lesson to be learned, it's that you do not have much of a choice but to experience the changes if you expect to get anything out of your time here-it's a matter of learning who you truly are.

Once you recognize change in yourself and embrace it, you will appreciate all that it took to get to where you are.

The point is, that for any changes to take place, you must make a conscious effort to experience something new.

It varies on individual basis, but change can be anything big or small that has an effect on your life and views.

Maybe it is finding love, experiencing loss, living a day in someone else's shoes, traveling abroad or deciding to engage in conversation with a stranger.

You have no idea what will be a personal turning point until you expose yourself to something new.

Brett Montana can be reached at brett.montana@student.shu.edu.