Making the right choices

The dawn of the second semester is a chance for many students to wipe their slates clean and start anew. But for Princeton's seniors, it also signifies the twilight of their time at college. For many of them, it is too late to change directions. Their paths, for their college years at least, are already set in stone. Many are comfortable with the choices they made during their college careers, and would hardly change a thing. Still, between the hustle of finding jobs and the bustle of researching senior thesis topics, some look back on their time in college with regret. Their remembrances bring only the sting of lost opportunities.

While it may be too late for seniors to take back the choices they have made, the rest of us still have the power to avert a condition perhaps best described by the term "senior regret." By taking full advantage of the resources offered to us, we are fully capable of nipping senior regret in the bud. Partly, this means choosing to take classes that broaden our perspectives and challenge our comfort zones. An English major who loves molecular biology and needs to fulfill an ST should take MOL 214 instead of "Future Physics," despite the swarms of premeds in the former.

But the classes we take are by no means the only important part of our college experience. Nor are they the only aspects of college that we might take for granted due to our laziness and shortsightedness. All too often, we choose to go out to the Street two or even three nights a week, when we could take just one night off so that we have the time to attend a cultural event or a lecture that interests us. Our interaction with other students often misses the mark as well. Many of us choose silly and lighthearted conversations which we forget in a moment more often than educational and soul-searching ones which leave indelible marks on our character.

The point is not that we should avoid fun at all costs. Nor is it that we should close off the outlets with which we can relieve the stress that life at Princeton invariably carries. A balance can certainly be struck. But it is important to remember that avoiding senior regret is about making rewarding choices instead of easy ones. If you fail to have enough courage now, then it is all too likely you will suffer from that familiar twinge of disappointment when it comes time for you to be a second-semester senior.