To the Class of 2023, welcome to Seton Hall!

Welcome, incoming Pirates! If you’re reading this, it means you’ve made it to Pirate Adventure – the first step in your Seton Hall journey. You’re likely excited, nervous or some combination of both and we at The Setonian would like to take the time to not only welcome you but to offer some advice for your freshman year.

We’re not here to give you some generic guidance about trying your hardest, becoming involved in every club and organization and making all the friends you can. We’re not going to do this because quite frankly, it’s halfhearted and it will bore you. We all remember applying to college and all the brochures featuring the same dry sentences about the importance finding a “home” and a “tribe” at each school. These aphorisms are well-intended and we’d venture to say that colleges are attempting to make prospective and incoming students feel comfortable, but they seem disingenuous and come across as if they were written by people who haven’t been to college in a very long time.

While it is important to create a community at your school and to find people and spaces that make you feel welcome, we at The Setonian would like to acknowledge something that is little talked about: college isn’t always fun. College is hard work, no matter what you decide to study, and almost everyone goes through a phase – however brief or long – where they feel like they aren’t where they are supposed to be. This is normal, and instead of freaking out over this fact, we want you to lean into it, feel that feeling and move forward.

Don’t become involved in everything, do some research about which organizations you think would be a good fit for you, and join those. This goes for classes too; look into ones that you’re genuinely interested in, or could see yourself being, and sign up for those. This also goes for people. Give everyone a chance but be cautious with yourself and your time. Surround yourself with worthwhile people and those who treat you well. College is about finding yourself, but it’s also about figuring out who you are and what you’re willing to try and put up with. There is a way to be both enthusiastic and wary at the same time.

So, to the Class of 2023, know yourself, know your worth, or whatever Drake said. Enjoy your freshman year!