Hello my dearest readers. To everybody returning to Gainesville, let me be the first to welcome you back to our humble home. To all of the freshmen who just graduated from high school, don’t worry; the worst (the move-in process with crying mothers, silent fathers and impatient siblings) is behind you. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Zach, but you can call me Zachary. I write a weekly op-ed column here in your soon-to-be most favorite newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator. Congratulations on beginning your collegiate journey by joining us in the wonderful, religiously drunken pilgrimage that is Summer B.
During your time here at UF, you’re going to meet a lot of new people. We here in Gainesville are very lucky to have such an eclectic bunch. You have many young people on and around campus, a thriving downtown area (and the infamous dumpster-smelling Midtown, as you’ll soon grow to un-ironically appreciate in all its wretchedness) and a community of wonderful locals who really care about this city. Consequently, you are entering a world of diverse opinions and worldviews. I encourage you, in your next four years (five for my kind of people) to explore those views and soak up all this potential new knowledge like a sponge. I also encourage you to re-examine your own views, the ones you came here with and the ones you take for granted. The classroom is a great place to do this, but outside the classroom is where you’ll see this magic. While the rigidity and formal nature of classrooms and chalkboards may release sparks that ignite a curiosity, one of our 369 on-campus Starbucks (Starbuckses? Starbucks’s?) will provide the environment you want for a genuine conversation and discussion with one of our many fascinating people around campus (ignore the dancing bald dude in short shorts on University, he’s got nothing).
Another great way to do this is to get involved. I know one of the things they shove in your face during the cringe-worthy two days that is Preview is that we have like, a million student organizations. Politically, we have a group for everybody. Ranging from UF College Democrats to the “I can’t believe this is actually a thing” UF Students for Trump (bye-bye half of my potential new readership), there’s an organization for you. We also have tons of interest-based student groups. We have LGBTQ+ clubs, environmental groups, health organizations, et cetera. There is a group of people here with the same interests as you, and more importantly, people here who can help you discover new interests to explore, practice and grow.
I won’t get into Student Government. I only have about a hundred words left in this column, and it would take me a lot more than that to express my distaste for the institution as a whole. If you want to get involved, I actually encourage civic participation on campus matters. Just know that on both sides of the aisle (it’s not left versus right there, it’s Access Party versus Impact Party, but they’ll both probably change the names of the parties twice in your time here) don’t give a damn about your “experience” (at my high school, everybody in SG was the best on paper, according to everybody in SG) or any merit that warrants commendation. Shake the right hands, and you’ll make it here politically. Don’t worry about the workload as an SG member, the only work you’ll have to do is switching the 24-hour libraries every semester. Apart from that, nada.
Also, those lanyards are fucking cool. Wear those constantly.
Zachary Lee is a philosophy senior, and encourages responsibility in all of the things you enjoy.
