A6 • THE SILHOUETTE
THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2012
EDITORIAL
editor’s extension: 22052 letters: thesil@thesil.ca
From the Editor:
A letter from the outgoing
The Silhouette
University’s a rare time to enjoy
TheSil.ca
McMaster University’s Student Newspaper
Editorial Board
Three years ago this week, I was leading teenagers and their parents on tours across campus, much like the ones happening hourly this week. I was in my second year of university, being paid to convince the kids that this was the place they would want to spend three to five years of their life, and the parents, in most cases, that this was where they should send tens of thousands of dollars. And sure, I believed I could do that. It was my job. People wanted answers about university, and I tried to dish them out with certainty like the expert I was. But the problem with trying to tell people how their years at school are going to work out is that it’s just impossible. You can’t figure out how it’s going to go, and even if you could, it would be beside the point. Experiencing those years is the point itself. In the rush of midterms, papers and applications to summer jobs and grad schools, people will try to do everything they can to secure whatever is next. It’s a competitive world, after all, and you don’t get into law school by stopping to smell the roses. But there’s too much to miss by rushing through the best years of your life with your head down and a screen in front of your face. The reason for this sappy, nostalgic rant is my imminent departure from the friendly confines of McMaster University. Today we will hire my replacement; in the coming weeks, we will go through the transition process, and soon I’ll be leaving Hamilton and McMaster. I see the fresh faces on the campus tours and I wish I could tell them what I know now. It’s sophomoric and pretty dumb considering I’m 22 and hardly an expert at anything, but it’s still a message I wish they could hear. Here’s what I’d tell them. Marks don’t matter. You go through your undergrad and you get a piece of paper that says you graduated with certain grades. It means next to nothing. You become employable or accepted to grad school based on your character and ability. The people that want to pay you or give you more schooling want to know if you can keep doing good work, not that you’ve already done it. Enjoy yourself. It’s different for everyone, but it’s important to find what makes you happy and embrace it. Whether it’s pursuing relationships, going to parties or playing basketball until they kick you out of the gym (and while you should probably be studying for that midterm), just find a way to do it. These things aren’t acceptable when you’re older, but you can get away with them in school. Be selfish. Know that you’ve got three to five years to make yourself into who you want to be. If you want to skip out on a party to finish that paper, do it. If you want to take a semester off to travel Europe, do it. It’s different for everyone, but it won’t be long before mortgages and car payments mean you just don’t come first anymore. Again, I’m no expert, but I believe these things. I thought of them when I saw the tour groups parading across campus this week, and when I sat down to write a sappy, nostalgic column about leaving university and what it meant to me. Originally, I meant this to be a last gasp to these kids not to make the same mistakes I did. But a funny thing happened to me when I tried to write that column, though: I couldn’t do it. It just wasn’t true. Instead of longing for years past, I found myself longing for the next stage, and certainly not because I’m sick of this place. I’ve got everything I’ve wanted from it and have no regrets. It’s time to move on, but I’m happy about it. I hope the kids being whisked around campus this week can say the same thing in a few years. It’s the best time of your life, and it’s up to them to make it that way.
Brian Decker Executive Editor Sam Colbert Managing Editor Jonathon Fairclough Production Editor Farzeen Foda Senior News Editor Kacper Niburski Assistant News Editor Dina Fanara Assistant News Editor Andrew Terefenko Opinions Editor Fraser Caldwell Sports Editor Brandon Meawasige Assistant Sports Editor Natalie Timperio Senior InsideOut Editor Cassandra Jeffery Assistant InsideOut Editor Sonya Khanna Business Editor Jemma Wolfe Senior andy Editor Myles Herod andy Entertainment Editor Josh Parsons andy Music Editor Tyler Hayward Senior Photo Editor Renée Vieira Assistant Photo Editor Joy Santiago Multimedia Editor
• Brian Decker,
Silhouette Staff
Dear McMaster, I haven’t received a letter to the editor in three weeks. I’m beginning to think we aren’t communicating well. What happened to us, baby? We used to talk it out whenever we had a problem. Now I’m cold, sad and eating taquitos alone in the dark. Write me soon. I promise I’ll put it up here, I swear.
Bushra Habib, Christine Pugliese, Julia Redmond, Chanéle Jordan, Amanda Teseo, Katherine George, Aaren Fitzgerald, Ben Orr, Maggie Cogger-Orr, Ryan Mallough, Rob Hardy, Erin Chesney, Paul Fowler, Nolan Matthews, Jason Scherer, Jenna Shamoon, Sandro Giordano, Jeremy Voisin, The Ball, Red Leaf
Let’s work it out, Brian Visit us online at
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did we upset you this week? are we blatantly offensive and unworthy of print? is this paper only good for making into a pirate hat? let us know. send us a letter and we’ll publish it right here on the editorial page. just don’t be too mean to us. thesil@thesil.ca HEY YOU WANNA WORK FOR THE SIL? APPLICATIONS FOR ALL EDITORIAL POSITIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE SOON! GETCHA RESUMES READY.
to successors. good luck to you, slam. to clams for everyone. to fodagraphs. to smoked meat, bagels and good friends. to jess, chris and um. ask and you shall receive! to office ball toss. to photoshop badgers. to landing nasa. to sandro. to ted talks. to golfing weather. to wishbone, the bane of my childhood existence.
to purse dogs. to snake poo. to potholes. to lame ducks. quack. to driving snowstorms. actually driving with the middle of a snowstorm. to patios. so 2011. to my level of enthusiasm. to so many interviews. to blue shirts. to fraser’s. to golfing weather while you work in a basement. to the snoots. booooo.
to magic school bus.
to doug funny and patty mayonnaise.
to caaarrrrlllooooossss.
to arnold.
to alumni fridays.
to mega bar tabs.
to green drunkeness.
to green pukenness.