— At the end of the day, you have your peers, your professors, your Orientation Leader (OL), close friends, siblings, advisors, parents, and others to rely on for advice, but I just wanted to share the advice that I, personally, share to the masses. Enjoy! This post was originally written in the summer of 2013 and has been revised over the years. —

For the next year (well, I’m already 2 months into it) I have the great fortune of being able to work with freshman students who are in the University Studies program at Virginia Tech.  As a graduate student studying student affairs and higher education, and as a person who is all around passionate about education, I’m excited for my first real opportunity to work directly and exclusively with freshmen, “first-year,” students.  FYI, University Studies is another word for the “exploratory” or more commonly known as the “undecided” major.  The students that we work with will always end up in another college becuase no student can graduate from University Studies.

To any rising freshman student that is reading this blog, and if you’re otherwise reading my blog for the first time, here’s a few things that are important to know about me:

• I’m a Hokie.
• I have a personal goal of meeting one new person everyday.
• I live to serve others, in the spirit of the university’s motto “Ut Prosim.”
• I’ve been a student at Virginia Tech since August 2008 (I graduated in 2012, and then began pursuing my Master’s right after). My master’s will help me work at a college or university someday in an administrative capacity, helping students. (*I graduated in May 2014!)
• I was the President of (the best group on campus ;)) Hokie Ambassadors, and still give campus tours whenever I can. This means that I have an abnormally large amount of Virginia Tech knowledge in my mind.

Now that I’ve set forth some credentials, I’d like to get to the point of this blog post – to give you a few pieces of advice.

• The best thing you can possibly do is get out of your comfort zone and STOP trying to impress others. Cliche? Yes. True? Absolutely. Doing something as little as LEAVING YOUR DOOR OPEN when you are moving in during move-in weekend invites people to say hello.  Connecting with people instead of trying to seem better than them will take you far. 
• Go to events on-campus, outside of the classroom.  30% of what I learned happened in the classroom when I was in school; everything else happened everywhere else. Go to Squires. Go to Gobblerfest. Get involved with a living-learning community. Research has shown, for years, that students who are involved in extra-curricular activities are better students (for example, they have to be better at time management) and I believe they also make more quality relationships that way. Consider getting involved in at least ONE activity…p.s. did you know what the we had a Bronie club? I’m not even gonna link to it. Look it up.
• Try to meet at least one other student each day. College is all about branching out and figuring out who you REALLY are. Eating by yourself in the dining hall (there’s nothing wrong with this by the way, but sometimes you might want some company!)? Share the table with a stranger. Shoot a random smile to a new friend while crossing the Drillfield; you never know how it may make your day. It could make theirs too. :)
• Realize that you have the power and the ability to become whatever you want to be.  For some, college is sort of like starting over. Take this opportunity to really investigate, discover, and truly – invent the future for yourself.  Take what’s important to you – what you value – embrace that, and use that to snowball into the adult that your’e becoming.
• Over anything, be passionate and be dedicated. Fail a test? Persevere; go to to your professor’s office hours. need help with a paper? Go to the writing center.  Feeling home sick? Skype with someone back home, make them send you a care package, and look forward to Thanksgiving. Transitioning to college is no piece of cake; but there are many ways that you can do it successfully.  There’s no singular solution.

I write this post from many different perspectives tonight.  First, while I’ve only learned a bit abotu college students in my first year of graduate school, I’ve learned even more about what it means to serve others. I write this post as a service to you; many of the tips I’ve given on tour, I give to the students I advise, and I’ll continue to give to the students I advise. I kind of wanted them to be in 1 place.

Also, last week I realized that while I was teaching freshmen how to use Drop/Add Course Registration for the first time…I will be doing it for the very last time come the spring. A process that I have taken part in, like clock work, for the last dozen semesters of my life will no longer happen after I pick my spring semester classes in November. What a mind-bender that was.

The other perspective I write this post from is as a student that didn’t get to do everything he wanted during his time as a student, graduate or undergraduate.  My two biggest regrets? Not being an Orientation Leader and not Studying Abroad.  Now, through my graduate program I was able to uncover and unpack some of those experiences in different ways.  But I think back to my senior year and completing Graduate School applications and feeling compelled to remain at VT…and people would always ask me why. And I always felt like I had more work to be done. More Hokies to meet, more people to serve, and more connections to make. I’m truly feeling like I’m coming full circle…

If you are reading this post, I invite you to reach out to me. Let me know who you are. Let’s get to know each other. Be one new person that I not only get to meet, but that I get to know. I’d love to share a meal with you and see what we have in common, what we have different, and how we can help each other. We can do this as a group, 1:1, whatever.  Lord knows my schedule is obnoxiously busy but I value friendship and I value service. What better way to embody Ut Prosim, eh?

Finally, and most importantly, I want to learn about you. I have always been determined to leave a mark on this great university, and I’d love to help you do that too. I give out my e-mail address to anyone who will ask – it is, simply, justin.graves@vt.edu.  If you ever encounter a question – want to know where to get involved, how to get from one building to another, or how to find out what’s for dinner in the dining halls, I’ve always been a resource to others.  Now, my time as a resource to you is as slim as it’s ever been but that doesn’t make me any less intent on helping you have as great of a time at Virginia Tech as I did.

You’ve just gotta make me one promise – you absolutely MUST answer one question – “What makes you awesome?”

Go Hokies, and Good Luck.