Column: Dive in deeply

After four years at this university, I'm still not entirely sure why they admitted me, but it might have had something to do with how I got a little carried away on my college application. I'd been one of those kids who did everything in high school, and in the section where you had to list what activities you planned to participate in during college, I checked probably every box but one. It must have worked, since I made it to East Campus in the fall of 1999, and promptly repeated the performance at the freshman activities fair. Community service, drama, the chess club, the math club, religion-you name it, I wanted to be involved in it. I even managed to get entrusted with sending out the weekly Newman Center e-mail before I had set foot in my freshman dorm-a position that won me instant fame (or notoriety?) and still lets me tell instantly whether the people I meet are Catholic, based on whether they recognize my name.

Then, of course, there was The Chronicle. Despite an inauspicious beginning-sleeping late for a meeting with the editor who was to supervise my first story-I managed to get myself irrevocably hooked on the newspaper. It's not so much that I loved reporting or even writing per se, but there was something irresistible about seeing the inner workings of an organization with such power, and responsibility, to affect campus discourse. Even more importantly, I found myself drawn to the people at The Chronicle, who still remain one of my closest groups of friends.

So, as I quickly discovered that I couldn't do quite as much as I had in high school, and started to backpedal out of my involvement with one organization after another, I increased the time I was spending inside the character-rich, if messy, halls of 301 Flowers. Still of the mindset that more activities were better, though, I added a few other activities and a second major, making sure my plate was always full of things to do. This was great at times but troublesome at others-it's at the latter that I proposed adding a 25th hour to the day, reckoning that if we shortened each second by 4 percent no one would notice the difference, but having an extra hour each day, albeit a slightly shorter one, would make a huge difference. Needless to say, that one didn't go over too well.

It did, though, get me thinking about whether it was a good idea to spread myself so thin, taking on the variety of responsibilities I've tried for. Certainly there have been drawbacks and opportunity costs, and I've been less than perfect at keeping all my commitments, as the (fortunately understanding) professors I've repeatedly asked for extensions can testify.

Even so, I feel like my choice has added a richness to my Duke experience, and so if there is any advice I have to offer after four years it is this: Dive in deeply. Try to fill your time as full as possible. Skip intro classes where you can, going straight to the most interesting professors and subjects-one of the best academic decisions I ever made was to take a 300-level course this semester in a field I'd never studied before, moral theology. Pick an extracurricular (or two or three) you love and throw yourself into it headfirst; you'll learn more from that than any two classes combined. Most importantly, remember that you're not here to train yourself to be a future doctor, lawyer, investment banker or anything else-you're here to learn how to think, to become the type of person who loves knowledge for its own sake... and consequently will prove successful at any career you may attempt. Put first things first, and the rest will follow-a principle which reminds me that I could not have achieved this goal even as imperfectly as I did without centering my endeavors around Jesus Christ, the true source of every fullness apart from whom all knowledge is useless. Finally, don't take yourself too seriously, and always remember the maxim my roommate lives by: "Life is good!"

I'm bad at goodbyes, so I'll end this column by saying thank you instead; chances are that's more fitting anyway. To all of my friends who are Catholic, live in Brownstone, work for The Chronicle or know me through any other means, I want to thank you for making my time here at Duke fun, and for helping me to become more closely the person that I want to be. To all of my professors and other adults who've helped me grow, thanks for letting me get what I did out of the University and for pushing me in new directions. Finally, and most importantly, thanks to my parents and family for your unceasing support and love, and to God, who is the ultimate cause and end of all that is good, at Duke and elsewhere.

Matt Atwood is a Trinity senior and editor of TowerView.