With Wichita State students back on campus for in-person classrooms for the first time in nearly 18 months, there is an extra layer of excitement. Our freshmen are experiencing a unique beginning as they start school amid an ever-changing pandemic, even returning students, staff and faculty are navigating new territory. In some ways, we are all freshman again.
What can we learn from our freshmen? I once heard Mitch Holthus, the voice of the Chiefs, speak about why it is important to “make yourself be a freshman again,” even long after graduation, because life will make you a freshman again, whether you signed up for the class or not. This is something that sticks with me as the PPMC is changing and growing and adapting.
As we add new staff to Team PPMC, it’s a reminder to approach everything with a first-timer perspective. We’re all forced to start (or start over) at some point, so why not embrace it? Why not use that perspective to see everything from a different angle? Maybe we’ll discover something we’d missed before.
Being a “freshman” is all about perspective. If we can be open to new people, opportunities, and experiences, and if we can adapt as we learn about ourselves and our work, we can hold onto the eager-to-learn, ready-to-grow mindset that college freshmen bring to campus. Sure, there is some risk in new experiences, but the rewards can be tremendous. Let’s go and grow.