By Tyler Mercer–

Reflect on your first year at U of L to motivate yourself to finish the end of it strong.

Until this point I’ve been writing this column from my own little ledge where I seem to have a deep insight into things that I feel are important for us, as students, to learn. Information about internships, keeping social media private to an extent, and even a bit here and there about the practicality of our choices as students.

However, that isn’t purely why I started to write to you, freshmen. It was because I wish that there had been someone writing to me when I was a freshman. I wished there had been someone there to give a perspective on things that I was worried or curious about. I hope, thus far, I have done that for you.

This week I composed an article about choosing roommates and such for this issue because it was appropriate for our housing issue. However, I thought it was important to say a few other things as the semester nears the end.

You may be losing the motivation for school that you had a few months ago. For some, you may have lost that motivation a few weeks ago and now running on a false sense of energy that you’re hoping will get you through the next few weeks to greet summer with open arms. The second of these is me. I think though, that I can give you a little inspiration to keep moving forward.

Take a look back at this year and you will see that you’ve actually done a lot of work to get here. For those of you who have been at the University of Louisville since last August, you can relish in the fact that you made it through an episode of mold infestation, floods, Sugar Bowl and Big East championships and ups and downs in our predictably unpredictable weather.

You’ve also already made it through two rounds of midterms and one session of finals. You’ve enjoyed fall break, winter break, New Year’s and spring break. You’ve had weekend fun with friends and you’ve hopefully indulged in some more fun throughout the semester.

You’ve been working hard to get to this point, so don’t give up yet! Power through, and when this semester is over, you’ll look back and think: Wow, my first year of college is done! What an accomplishment!

Did you know that a study done by the Harvard Graduate School of Education showed that the United States, out of a mix of 18 countries, has the lowest percentage of college students who actually finish college? The percentage is a low 46 percent.

You, my friends, will hopefully be a part of that 46 percent. Look, you’re already almost done with your first year.

Find the motivation to not only finish this semester strong, but to finish school and in a timely manner. It may be difficult, but you’re strong, you’re smart and most importantly, you’ve proven over the past seven months that you have the capability to end this semester with flying colors.

Take it easy, give yourself a break and then jump back into school and get this job done. After all, freshmen year is just the beginning, don’t let it be the end.

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