Falling is part of the college adventure

My testimony of facing every freshman’s nightmare: I tripped and fell in front of everyone.

On my usual stroll from the Hill to Bruin Walk, I felt myself falling not so gracefully in the middle of the Charles E. Young Drive intersection. On my butt. Hard. I tried to play it off coolly and nervously laughed at myself. I noticed a few people offering to help me up, and others asking if I was alright. Some burst out laughing. A few walked by as if nothing happened. Of course I tried to use my sense of humor and acted as if that type of thing happens to me all the time.

The truth is, that type of thing does happen to me all the time. I do fall, and I fall often. And I expect to fall even more as I continue with my second year at UCLA. I’ve found that falling can be a little more graceful with a little help ““ from people, experience or, in some cases, safer shoes. Falling is even more graceful when help is reciprocated.

You will fall at least once during your dorm room/apartment experience. You and your roommates may not get along. You might get sick. Sleep may be hard to come by. You may even feel lonely at times. The best solution would be to befriend anyone and everyone on your floor and in your building when you move in.

Don’t hesitate to walk around and introduce yourself to everyone you see. This may be out of character for some of you, but now is the time to step outside your comfort zone and make friends with as many people as you can. These people will be your cushion when you fall because after all, they will fall plenty of times themselves. I’m not saying dorm life is one big therapy session, but you’d be surprised how one “hello” or smile can make falling a less frightening experience.

You will fall trying to make the right choices. The once-easy choice between studying and partying will haunt you every weekend. The endless dilemma of choosing classes will seem to get harder and harder every quarter. You may not even have control of some of these choices, such as gaining the freshman 15.

In these scenarios, rely on the best resource: yourself.

Only you can decide if you deserve a little fun after a long day of studying. And only you can decide if it’s worth waking up to mysterious bruises after having a little too much to drink and falling at that frat party the night before.

You will fall finding yourself. Very few of us are blessed with knowing exactly what we intend to do tomorrow, let alone farther into the future. Even if you are set on a major, career plans and life goals, you may be surprised to find that things do not go exactly as planned. You may fall a couple of times, change your mind about certain ideas, discover things about yourself you never knew.

Make these falls a little gentler: keep an open mind, expect challenges and, most importantly, talk to people. Talk to other students about similar concerns. Talk to professors and faculty who have been through it all. Talk to counselors, teaching assistants, peers and any other source you may find necessary to help recover from your scrapes and bruises.

Clumsiness was a definite issue of mine. I was, and still am, very unsure about my plans for the future.

I was an undeclared freshman, determined to find my niche. The more I tried to discover my passion, the more hopeless I felt. I kept falling into this endless trap of choosing a major, career, studying abroad and graduate plans. I discovered that the more I turned to other sources and other people, the less it hurts to fall. I occasionally talked to a counselor. I asked friends a year or two older than me about their plans. I observed, I read, and I learned until I finally felt that I had made progress in choosing to be a Communications Studies student.

I discovered that one of the best cushions that has caught me in my plunges was taking a really big risk: applying for an internship at the Daily Bruin fall quarter of my freshman year. I was aware of the small chance that I had of getting the position, but it was a risk I was willing to take.

After reading my name, twice, posted under “Viewpoint” inside the front doors of the Daily Bruin office, I knew that risk was well-taken. And so, after writing a few columns, I realized how much my position meant to me. I became aware that my writing is read by thousands of people, that I share my opinions and advice with them.

It is true that I fall quite a bit, but I finally understood why my falls didn’t hurt so much. It was because I had the opportunity to reach out to others, to speak to them through my writing and to help cushion their falls. It was then that I realized my falls had a sense of grace to them.

For new Bruins and Bruin veterans alike, find a way to help others. Even the smallest gesture of making someone smile can be the best cushion to their falls, as well as yours.

If you need a Band-Aid, e-mail Ghoogassian at [email protected]. Send general comments to [email protected].