Reopen your high school literature textbook and re-read that poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson, "Ulysses." An "idle king" you are not - more like a traveler from a foreign country taking in a place, its customs, traditions, smells and vistas, going through the motions of daily life with an intimate understanding of a life and way of doing things that exists miles away (high school). From "Ulysses" take four quotations, understand and apply them, and you will have the general guidelines for a robust and fulfilling four years at Princeton (because to claim to have a successful four years relies on metrics too easily bent by the shifting currents of the years).
"I am part of all that I have met;/ Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough/ Gleams that unraveled world whose margin fades/ Forever and forever when I move." Take a bit from those you meet. The University has assembled a group of students who are your complements. They are more gifted at things you may have no knowledge of, but rather than dwelling on your deficiency, use their experiences to inform yourself about subjects that defy the confinement of bound books and numbered pages. Just as any good author would trade thousands of books and written works to make one masterpiece, you should sift through the experiences and knowledge of others, couple them with your own and create within your mind an magnum opus that spans 50 states, seven continents and years of intellectual curiosity.
"How dull it is to pause, to make an end,/ To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!" Princeton's social challenges and unique environment may make your tiny dorm room an appealing refuge where your television, computer, problem sets and roommate serve as comfortable escapes from risk-taking and being awkward, but the rewards of doing an unlikely activity far surpass the comforts of snug complacency.
"Follow knowledge like a sinking star,/ Beyond the utmost bound of human thought." Grade deflation will be the biggest attitude check you will have in years. You will learn that your grades may not reflect who you are or what you have learned. Strive, therefore, to remember your experiences in the classroom not by the letter that capped the semester but by the intangibles you've drawn from those 12 weeks.
In four years, it becomes obvious that Princeton is a great place not only for what happens within the classroom but for what exists beyond it as well. Take the four years to make yourself interesting, challenge your convictions, alter your course, fall in love, speak your mind and experience setbacks, but most importantly use the four years to "strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
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On March 27, the Municipality of Princeton’s Zoning Board of Adjustment approved construction developments for Tower Club and Charter Club. Renovations for both clubs are aimed towards improving accessibility.
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