Given the amount a student invests in preparation for higher education, huge novice expectations are reasonable. But these hopes are the windmills of a social and careerist knight-errant. Parties, internships, booze, sex and connections – if only it were so simple.

Freshmen arrive at Sacramento State with boundless optimism, and it’s enough to warm the cockles of a cold, cynical heart. But any sympathy stems from lived-through naivety. The reality is that college life is one subtle complication after another, a balancing act that requires some finagling for the best results. Mistakes are inevitable.

There are some universal things you can try to get the most out of your time here, though.

First and foremost, experiment. Don’t assume you know everything, least of all everything about yourself. Try out new things like different courses of studies or new interests; they might be more interesting than the familiar choices. Naturally, people forget their fallibility until they step on campus, only to receive a profound reminder when they realize the depth of their options. Just remind yourself that it’s not a smart thing to stand by every assumption decided upon when you’re 18.

Be sure to get active and do things for others. As veteran do-it-yourself musician R. Stevie Moore argues, living and existing may be similar ideas, but they are not the same thing. A stone can exist, but it has not the volition to act upon the world. It can only hope to be acted upon. Too often, Sacramento State freshmen forget that they aren’t stones.

A 2004 campus life survey reported less than a third of that year’s incoming freshmen considered it very important to take part in the campus community. As part of that respondent group, it seemed like a reasonable opinion to hold then. Consider the mistake another poor assessment of something I had no clue about.

Join a club, a recreational activity or any other organization that can put you in touch with people who hold similar interests or goals. Pragmatically speaking, college can be viewed as an important network-building experience. The organizational experience certainly won’t hurt your chances of scoring a job when you graduate. Ideally (and from a less calculating viewpoint), college represents a chance to build those truly substantial personal relationships that can last for the rest of your life.

Of course, a contrary suggestion exists as well: Don’t spread yourself too thin. It’s an understandable itch to scratch since the possibilities are endless, but remind yourself of limitations. If you expect to hold a job, take on a bulging course load, join the debate team and attempt to maintain a social life and your sanity, you’re obviously already devoid of the latter.

Sure, it can be done. As a working class campus, Sac State is filled with people attempting to pull off harrowing schedules, some of whom have no other choice. But this is one of the reasons our campus has traditionally struggled with establishing community, student apathy and dispiriting retention rates. Take a room of 100 freshmen; chances are a quarter won’t return for their sophomore year. Assuming you don’t want to be part of that group, it is in your interest to simplify your life as much as possible.

A lot of common sense, I know, but let my hindsight be your foresight. Try to escape preconceptions about what it means to be a college student – without eschewing those high hopes. Expect nothing, demand everything, be unafraid of failure and you’ve got it made. And whatever you do, don’t be intimidated by giants. They might not be.

Paul Rios can be reached at [email protected].