Possibilities Are Endless

Sun., Oct. 19, 1997

Jacob Fries Northwestern University

Survival Tales

College can raise many fears of the unknown and highlight personal insecurities, which all quickly prove ridiculous. But the most remarkable part of college is the unique opportunity it offers.

For me, as the end of high school approached, I remember being very excited by the chance to reinvent myself at Northwestern. After growing up with the same people and going through school together, I felt caught and stuck in a web of obligations, responsibilities and expectations.

But in college, with a fresh set of people, unknowing of my past preferences and personality quirks, I could change completely and no one would know that I was acting “out of character.”

The possibilities were endless! I could shave my head and pierce my nostril, and I wouldn’t be Jacob with a shaved head and a pierced nostril; I would just be Jacob. No one could accuse me of being phony or posing.

At college, people would only know what I gave them - not that I wet my pants in the fourth grade or that I didn’t date much in high school. I was free to be an intellectual, a prankster, a preppy, a grunge - whatever.

That was what my first year in college was: An opportunity to stop after 18 years of Jacob, assess who he had become and move toward the person I would like him to be.

And so on the plane, I slowly metamorphosized and evolved. By the time I finally landed in Chicago, I had already changed, at least slightly. I looked at things no so much from my Greenacres-grown eyes, but a little more from my new self.

I won’t pretend that it was easy. But in the end, it was the greatest year of my life.

I learned so much, not from books, but from living. I opted for a cup of coffee and good conversation. I figured that a balance between books and living was best.

I took the opportunity to taste the many fruits of college in my first year: Lake Michigan at 2 a.m., the toilet seat and a six pack on its way out, the kiss of the morning sun, 40 ounces of Jolt, sexuality. I seized the opportunity as a somewhat new Jacob to taste a little life.

xxxx

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