Tech makes students find own happiness

I fantasized about coming to Tech ever since I was 12. I remember riding around Atlanta in the backseat of my dad’s car and looking at the tree-lined streets like it was the most magical place on Earth. To me, there was no place like it. Something about the way that Tech Tower looked so majestic gazing over North Ave., the weathered architecture on East Campus and the certain manner that Tech students had when walking around campus made me fall in love with the place. And because I was the kind of dorky little kid that imagined herself at Tech, I also imagined all the other aspects of my college life: hanging out with my super cool friends, making As in all of the difficult classes and becoming a world renowned architect.
So in hopes of making all of those dreams become a reality, I worked all throughout high school to keep a great GPA, got involved in extracurricular activities and achieved an SAT score that was considered an acceptable range for admissions. You know, the same stuff that everyone else did to get into this place. I also dragged my parents to every Tech-related information session I could sign up for, and by the time I had been on my fourth Tech tour, I was correcting the tour guides. And no, there is still no way that Skiles was actually supposed to be built anywhere in Fla. Finally, in my senior year of high school I filled out my application, wrote the obligatory essay to the admissions board explaining just how great I was, sent my application to the admissions office and waited.
All that work in high school paid off; I came home one afternoon to find a very large envelope with my acceptance packet enclosed. I was over the moon and so excited that I would finally get to be a Tech student. Never mind the fact that I did not particularly enjoy any of the sciences and no, I was not particularly gifted when it came to calculus.
Despite all this, I was convinced that I would definitely be able to keep up with the rigorous academics that Tech was known for. I had done really well in high school, so why couldn’t I do well at Tech, too?
Oh, how idealistic and naïve I was then. By the end of my second year, my relationship with Tech was drastically different than when I had begun my college career. In the course of two years I no longer viewed Tech as the “magical” place I had when I was younger; in fact, I had begun to view the school as a place that crushed dreams. After working for countless hours of studio, having to live with two random roommates in a triple dorm, discovering that I actually hated the major I signed up for and that I probably should have paid more attention in high school calculus, Tech had lost almost all of its enchantment. I was sorely disappointed that my career at Tech was not living up to all of the things I had imagined it would when I was a twelve-year-old little girl.
At this point I referred to my previous major as “archtorture” more so than I called it by its correct name, I could not wait to get off of campus, and I was not dominating every class like I thought I would. Something needed to change.
And so, like many before me that were unhappy with their majors, I dropped my major, hopped on the M-train and never looked back.
I also found other extra curricular activities, like the Technique, to add something other than homework to my life.
And yes, I promise Management majors have homework, too.
Basically, I made serious changes that allowed me to actually enjoy my time at Tech and meet some new people. There are still times when this is not my favorite place to be, but this is the school I chose, and I wanted to make the best of it.
So what is the point of me taking this little trip down memory lane about my college experience? Basically this: this school can really suck if you let it. I know this, you know this, your classmates are all well aware of this and any upperclassman or alum can easily rattle off a list of all the things that they find unfavorable at this school. But the really difficult, perhaps the most difficult part of it all, is making sure that you don’t let Tech’s suckiness ruin your college experience.
So for those of you that still haven’t found something that brings you enjoyment at Tech, stop crying about how much your life sucks, get out there and go try to make your college experience less miserable. You only have one shot to make this the best five years of your life.