Explore: Message from the Student Council President

By Lisa Johnson '12
Delivered at Fall Convocation 2011

Look around you. At your fellow classmates, the bleachers, the basketball hoops--can you see them way up there? Take it all in. Breathe in the hot and sticky air. Embrace the humidity. Listen to the shuffling of your own feet, the hubbub beyond these doors, people making music somewhere. Take a snapshot of this moment in your mind. Store it somewhere near the back of your brain next to crumpled up study guides from old tests and memories of past birthdays. Don't let it get too lost though, you're going to want to look at it four years from now when you're wondering where all your time went.

You're going to want to remember what it felt like to be so new with possibilities--endless--stretched out before you. You stand at the precipice of a new beginning ready to take a plunge and dive into a new life at Clark.

You will become a Clarkie. The term may seem a bit foreign. It might not seem to fit yet, but try it on. It's like a sweater on a cold day when it's raining out and you have procrastinated too much. It's just your size, comes in every color of the rainbow, and smells just like your bedroom back home.

Before I came to Clark, I disliked the term "Clarkie." To me, it seemed so informal, so childish in a way. I wanted to be taken seriously as a student. Over these last three years, though, I've been won over. I love how homey and comfortable the name is. I found that being a Clarkie meant more than just being "taken seriously." Yes, our professors do take us seriously but they'll also invite you to have tea in their office, they'll give you a hug goodbye at the end of the semester, and they'll support your life goals as much as your academic ones. The term Clarkie is like that nickname only your family calls you. It's a term of endearment. It means we're all in this together.

You will be a Clarkie in a way that nobody else in this school is a Clarkie. Imagine the word like a big umbrella encompassing who you are today, who you will be in four years, and the identities of all of your fellow students. It will grow and expand with all of us. We will define what it means to be a clarkie.

And don't be afraid to expand the definition. It's up to you to stretch its boundaries. To stretch your own boundaries. If I have any advice for you, it would be to forget that you have limits. Forget that you're afraid of mice, or public speaking. Forget that you hate chickpeas. Forget that your middle school teacher told you that you "lacked a proclivity for mathematics."

Imagine you've been reborn. Every single cell in your body is regenerated after 7 years, which means that, even biologically, you are a completely different person than you were 7 years ago. You have been reborn, and you will be reborn, time and time again.

Try to do everything and anything that scares you. Push your limits. You are constantly evolving, moving, shaking, changing. Harness that energy and grow.

So what does that mean to you as a new student at Clark University? It means make friends with a person from a different country, a different religion, a different political background. Join a club you never thought you would, like the Ballroom Dance Team, the literary magazine. Get involved in the African Community Education program. Go vegan. Sing in the shower. Explore Worcester. Find the best place to get coffee or the best dance club or park in the city. If you're not athletically inclined, play a sport. Try cricket or American football. Take violin lessons. Expand what it means to be you.

Now I know this might seem daunting. It's so easy to get complacent and set in our ways but remember that you will have assistance: your fellow classmates, your peer advisors, you professors, your administration, Clark itself, the city of Worcester. Get to know all of these characters well. They will define your story along with you.

Earlier this summer, I asked some upperclassmen if they wanted to pass on any advice to you, the newest members of our community. Not a single one said "go to bed early every night," or "take your vitamins." No one said "I wished I would have studied harder." Why? Well, because it's a given. This is college, of course we need to study. Be passionate about your school work, love what you're learning, don't settle for the mundane and studying won't seem like work.

But the college experience is about more than just courses. One girl said, "don't be afraid to make friends, everyone is just as nervous as you are." Another said, "get to know Worcester." They said "make mistakes" and recommended that you watch out for the doors in the Jonas Clark Academic Building, which is good advice because they swing pretty violently if you let go of them too quickly. It's okay though, at Clark we always hold doors open for the person behind us.

I know you've heard a lot of speakers today and our advice might be a bit jumbled in your mind, but if you remember anything, remember to chart your own course. Just don't wait to get started. Your college experience starts now. Congratulations Clarkies. Congratulations class of 2015, you're going to have such a good time.