Questioning choices not a problem

Fifteen years ago, Tech hosted the 1992 Vice Presidential Debate in the Ferst Center, which pitted the incumbent Dan Quayle against Democratic Senator Al Gore and Vice Admiral James Stockdale. During the opening remarks, Quayle and Gore both gave introductions that were nothing out of the ordinary and everything you would have expected.

Then the camera turned to Stockdale, who opened with perhaps one of the most memorable opening lines of any political debate-"Who am I...why am I here?"

This line may not mean much to new students, but it holds great significance to those who are coming back. We've all muttered and screamed it at one point or another. It may not have been during a debate, but it was probably during finals week or the week before the big project was due. We all begin to wonder, "Why did I choose Tech?"

Over the next four, five or even six years there will be one point or another when it seems the workload can't get any bigger or the problem you've been staring at for eight hours still isn't any closer to the solution.

This feeling of gloom won't happen just once, or even twice. It will be a persistent feeling as you pursue your respective engineering, science or any other degree for that matter.

I'm just here to tell you that it's normal, and all odds are that you will survive.

Everyone goes through this phase of questioning their choice of schools and career paths. You will wonder why you didn't go to the party school up the road, or maybe even pick a less-strenuous major.

The griping about this occurs daily. On any given night, there is a student somewhere complaining about the workload, or a professor or their choice in schools. Then after the griping is done, they get back to work and complete the task at hand.

That's the doubled-edged sword that is known as Tech. You will get one of the best educations in the country; but to do so, you're going to have to go through some trials and tribulations.

My first semester at Tech was by far the worst. I came in with high hopes. I was salutatorian at my high school and thought putting in the same effort at Tech would grant me the same magical 4.0 I had achieved in the past. Then I failed my first exam in every class. That's when Stockdale's quote started haunting me.

I constantly kept questioning my choice of schools. I had given up scholarship after scholarship to come out-of-state to Tech. It made me feel like I had wasted some golden opportunities.

But I stuck with it. I studied a little harder, asked a few more questions and ended up with at least a B in every class, and the whole way I kept asking, "Why am I here?"

I'm still here and that question still comes to my mind at least once a week. My friends call me from other schools and tell me about this party or that easy class, and I just start to wonder.

After all that wondering, though, I still wouldn't change my choice of schools. The atmosphere here is a unique one, and I wouldn't give that up. I am completely confident that I have had more opportunities open up for me because of choosing Tech than any other university I could have attended.

At the end of the day, Tech academics challenging you is the best thing that can happen. When most college students graduate, they may tend to question their ability, but as a Tech graduate there will be no questioning our ability because we've already spent four or more years doing just that. I've never met a student who disagreed with me on that. Tech is a love/hate relationship, and we all just have to embrace it.

So as you freshmen start your academic careers, don't be afraid of failing or questioning yourself. When you're going through your first finals week or first week of tests and start wondering why, you're not alone. I guarantee about 16,000 other students might be doing the same exact thing.

It will happen; just be prepared for it, and it's never as bad as it seems.

Stockdale never answered his question to the satisfaction of the voters, and as we all know Clinton/Gore won the campaign, and the rest, as they say, is history. I hope before you eventually leave Tech, you will have answered that question.