Be well-rounded. Keep your priorities straight. Stay focused. Cover your bases. Sound familiar much? Well, I hate “life is like baseball” metaphors, so instead of telling you to “cover your bases” like my dad, I’ll cloak my old man’s wisdom in the more classical, Parthenon-inspired metaphor of “four pillars.” Ostensibly to keep you going strong through midterms, but really just to show off.

Academics is the first and arguably most important pillar. After all, if you flunk out of college, that’s game over. So slowly put down The Hustler and get back to work, slacker!
So you need more convincing — fair enough. Your GPA is likely one of the first things people will look at after college, whether it’s grad school or your first job. If you’re one of those Zen types who isn’t motivated by external rewards, just think of all the stuff there is to learn here. Walk through the creepy Central Library stacks and pick out a book (it won’t bite, this isn’t Hogwarts … unfortunately). Go to a random lecture or performance. Talk to a professor. Read The Hustler (but stick to the opinion section). It can be overwhelming, but you won’t find this kind of intellectual stimulation anywhere else, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Extracurriculars constitute the second pillar and likely the bulk of your resume. The Outstanding Senior Award is a big deal, but for the most part, it only recognizes one’s activities. Though it would be difficult, maybe even wrong to attempt to judge the recipient of this award based on other intangible qualities, it should be noted that far more goes into making an outstanding person than just one’s extracurricular resume. Unless your ambition is to become Vanderbilt’s next Outstanding Senior, I recommend sticking to just one to three activities and digging deep into them.

Your friends are the third pillar. Even if you forget what you learned in class this week, the memories you share with your friends this weekend can last a lifetime. That is, if you can remember what happened last night; but that’s another story.

Finally, the fourth pillar is romance. Whether you’re perpetually single or having random hookups every weekend, either lifestyle can only be so satisfying. At some point, it would be a good idea to start doing some serious soul-searching. After all, when else in your life are you going to find yourself sharing a space with roughly 3,300 singles of the opposite sex, all your age and every bit as smart as you? “The One” may not be lurking in your lecture hall or on the floor above you, but he/she very well could be here. So get out there and meet some cool dudes/dudettes. And ladies, don’t be shy — after all, you outnumber us.

The tragedy of being an educated, self-critical person is that you can always find problems with yourself and only have 24 hours each day to rectify them. But look on the bright side — you’ve got four years here — that’s 35,040 hours! So if you feel you are seriously lacking in any of the aforementioned categories, don’t be afraid to shift gears and set aside some time into building up that pillar. You can’t build a beautiful marble Parthenon if your pillars are lopsided, and you can’t score unless you reach home.

—Jesse Jones is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Science. He can be reached at jesse.g.jones@vanderbilt.edu.