Over my 2 years as a student worker for Public Safety I have logged 1,531.75 hours, locked tens of thousands of doors, and consumed way more calories than I should have while I tried to stay awake at 4am. I have decided to revive this blog one last time in the guardshack, the place where it all started, but this post will be a bit more sentimental than the others.
I have been very reflective this week, being my last week as a student at NWC and all, and I feel the need to lend some wisdom to the future UNWSP students. Before I get going, I must say that my 4 years at Northwestern have been far and away the absolute best years of my life. I have met amazing friends, played for the best coaching staff in the nation, was blessed with my soon-to-be wife, and have been transformed from a selfish boy to a man after God's heart. This post, as the title implies, is my top 10 words of advice for UNWSP students, current and future (these 10 are in no particular order).
#1: Find a church and get involved
More often than not, you probably grew up going to church or have been going to church regularly before you came to Northwestern. Now you are on your own, and Bedside Baptist is a warm and comfortable place to attend service. Or maybe you use the excuse that you watch a sermon online. Or my personal favorite, you don't have a ride to church. The bottom line here is that too often we forget what the point of church truly is once we get out on our own. Church isn't a sermon. Church isn't some Bible reading. Church is a get together of fellow believers, a weekly family reunion, for the purpose of worshiping God together and encouraging each other. With that, the Church needs you. If you are just going and sitting and leaving week after week, you are there for the wrong reasons. Get involved, give your time (and please tithe...go without getting Caribou one day a week or something), give your talents. We are called to be servants of God, to help to further build the Church on this planet.
#2: Take advantage of the professors
Seriously, Northwestern has some of the best professors, in my biased opinion. These professors have had so many different experiences and areas of expertise, and they are here to share that with you. The majority aren't here to make money and leave; they are here to genuinely invest in you and make you a better person. But you need to seek them out. They have many different students, they can't seek out everyone. You have to seek them out, and they will be more than happy to help you.
#3: Utilize quiet places
If you are ever in need of a place to go to get away from everything and simply read your Bible and pray, I have a couple suggestions for you. I have always been a big fan of the backside of the island next to the water. Another, lesser known place, that has of late become my new favorite is on 5th floor Naz. Only 4 floors, you say? Think again. If you go to the end of the hallway by the ALPHA center and go through the door that says it's supposed to remain shut, there is a staircase. Go up those stairs (they actually go to the smaller tower, but that door remains locked) and at the top there will be a Bible and a journal. These have been placed here by a staff member at NWC, and they are meant for you to read and journal whatever God has placed on your heart. Some are anonymous, some have names on them, but all of the entries are heartfelt to God. It is seriously the most amazing little known places on campus.
#4: Get a job...a 3.0 beats a 4.0
What's that Kassidy? You just said a 3.0 GPA is better than a 4.0? Yes, yes I did, if that 3.0 has work experience while the 4.0 has spent their years doing nothing but studying. I have talked with many bosses of random companies and there is definitely a common theme--if you don't know how to operate in a work setting, a 4.0 means nothing. Obviously, having both would be ideal, but if you have to sacrifice a couple tenths of a point on your GPA in order to have solid work experience, it's worth it in the long run. It doesn't mean you have to get a job at a big company, just work somewhere. It teaches discipline, work ethic, and time management, three qualities employers like.
#5: Learn something from chapel
Chapel gets a bad reputation for some reason at Northwestern. Too many people complain about it (more on complaining later), and they choose to not pay attention. I will be the first to admit, I've slept through more than a couple chapels in my career, but I've also had my world rocked by great lessons in chapel on far more occasions. I would encourage you to go into every day of chapel with the goal to take one thing away from that day...just one. If you take one thing away, and apply it to your life, your life will be changed for the better. You will miss that daily dose of scripture in your life once you're gone, so take advantage of it now.
#6: Thank the Bon Apetit workers
God has brought these great people to our campus for a reason. They are all great people, and many of them are not believers. Their work can be a thankless, repetitive job, and your kindness goes a long way, believe me. A smile and a thank you, a random thank you card now and then, anything that shows your appreciation for the work that they do for you. How great of a testimony is that?!
#7: Enjoy the dorm life...for a couple years
Some of my best memories came in the dorms...usually after vis hours and usually involving events that are not to be repeated here. I will never forget the night we discovered that Monte Abeler had placed a deer head in our shower, or the night we placed a poopkin in someone's room. The random nights of guys just hanging out in our room until 2am talking about life were something that I am forever grateful for. In fact, 3 of the 5 men in my wedding are from my time in the dorms. Enjoy having fun together!! However, after 2-3 years, move out. Don't spend all 4 years in the dorms. It is good for you to get out, apartment shop, and pay rent and utilities. You can still live with great guys (I currently live with 5 other guys), but the extra responsibility of apartment or house living is something you need to experience before graduating.
#8: Take a class you don't think you will like
I hate science. Detest it. Nothing about biology labs is appealing to me. So when I signed up for honors biology for my lab science gen ed, I asked myself what I was thinking. Yes, it included a 9 day trip to Japan to study marine biology, but I hated science! You know what? Of all the classes I have taken at NWC, that class with Dr. Winslow was far and away my favorite. In fact, Dr. Winslow has been so helpful in my process in getting offered my job in Japan next year, even writing one of the reference letters for me. Another example is History and Philosophy of Math.... snooze fest, right? That's what I was expecting when the registrar told me that Probability had been cancelled and in order to graduate I had to take that class instead. It turned out to be a pretty fun class, and I'm glad I took it.
#9: Don't assume your peers are Christians
I was told this at a conference my freshmen year and it really made me think. I just assumed people were Christians at Northwestern, but the more I got to know people, the more I realized that there are (unfortunately) people who come here with a false sense of being saved. Ask for people's testimonies, and once you get to know people you should ask the tough questions that get to the nitty gritty. Some people grew up in a Christian home and have always assumed they are saved, yet they have actually been riding on their parent's salvation. There are other examples, too, and I'm not trying to single out people from that background, but it is a very real thing that happens at all Christian colleges.
#10: Limit your complaining
I'm the first to complain about the raising cost of tuition or the annual Humans vs. Zombies event. There are definitely things at Northwestern that aren't ideal. But you know what? I would gladly go $32,000 in debt again in order to experience what I have experienced in my 4 years here. Looking back on who I was when I came to Northwestern, I don't think I would even recognize myself if 2009 Kassidy showed up here. Like I said earlier, the people at Northwestern have taught me what it means to have a true relationship with Christ and how to truly be a man in relentless pursuit of God's heart. I could not thank the NWC football coaching staff enough for how they have impacted me and taught me what a true man looks like. I couldn't thank my professors enough for sharing their wisdom with me and helping me learn what it looks like to worship God through math. I couldn't give enough thanks to the great friends I met here and the great memories we have had together, as well as the deep and intimate conversations we have had. Northwestern has seriously been one of the biggest blessings of my life, and I will gladly pay the $300/month for my loans because I know that those loans allowed me to go to a college that changed my life for the better. God has truly blessed us with an amazing school, and we need to look past the small, quirky things in order to be thankful for what we have been blessed with. For what I have been blessed with in my life, I could never repay.
So there you have it, my top 10 words of advice for current and future UNWSP students. I'm going to miss this place so much. To my loyal readers, I apologize for not getting any humor worked into this post...I didn't want to force humor into it. Rather, this time around I hope what little wisdom I have will be of help to someone and encourage someone in some way. Don't waste your years here. I've caught myself looking at the beauty of Northwestern this week...we have a beautiful campus. Go exploring, find little known places like 5th floor Naz. In the words of Coach Talley, "Live the legacy, leave a legacy." What kind of legacy are you going to leave? I hope mine has been a good one.
For the last time ever, these have been my thoughts from the guard shack.
