By Grace Crim
To the Student eagerly awaiting your first steps on campus, welcome. To the students here now, thank you. You are what make Auburn just that. Auburn. A home, a spirit, an experience that is truly like no other. Thank you for buying in and continuing to buy in. From the first steps on campus during your tour, to the time you spent learning about Auburn and seeing how incredible this University is at your first Camp War Eagle Pep Rally, and even in your first lecture halls or classrooms. Thank you for investing. Auburn is a place that always gives back. Many people say that Auburn is a place that gives back to you whatever you invest in it. I think it does more. Auburn is a place that will give back exponentially more than what you could ever give. An incredible education, the closest community, and a home that loves you more than you could imagine. To the students awaiting your first Camp War Eagle Pep Rally, lean into the excitement you are feeling, the next four years are soon to be your best. The transition can be hard or at least that is what I expected, but Auburn will become the place you call home much sooner than you anticipate. As you embark on your journey at Auburn, I’d like to share some words of wisdom that helped me find my place here. The first, be awkward so others do not have to be. I’m sure you are confused by this because our natural inclination is to present ourselves completely put together, we want to do the college thing right! Don’t fall into this trap. Embrace taking the first step (even if it’s uncomfortable), initiating, and going out of your way. Everyone feels the nerves that you do, so take that first step to make yourself and others comfortable because that is how a community is formed. The second is to plug in. Find something that you love to do, pursue it wholeheartedly, then look around and see who’s beside you. That is how to find your people. I look back on my time here at Auburn and am flooded with memories of waiting in basketball lines, crying at football games because I was simply too invested, spending countless hours “studying” in the library with friends when in fact we did not get anything done, stopping to get a donut from Aubie on the concourse, seeing the eagle fly around the stadium for the first time, or rolling Toomers after a big win. To some of you these memories are what you’re holding on to as well. To the students who are you to come, you may have no idea what I am talking about but just wait. You are soon to have these memories too. Soak them in, lean in, love Auburn and it cannot help but love you back. War Eagle and Welcome to Auburn.
Grace Crim, senior in nutrition science, serves as the 2024-25 Miss Auburn.
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