Opportunity. That’s the word that strikes us as we begin a new school year. In the words of Father Jack, “As this first week comes to a close, many of us find we’re checking out our new classes, checking out new clubs, checking out each other. It’s alright. It happens.”  Although I think Father Jack was mainly referring to the checking out each other part, I think we can all agree that this statement rings true for all of us. As classes commence once again,  we are indeed checking out the new opportunities. As a first year student, those are numerous and perhaps overwhelming. And if you’re a senior like me, you’re searching for those new opportunities in your last year here, while trying to maintain a clear focus on the prospects ahead of us. With the start of a new year, we are forced to look at our lives, reevaluate our priorities, and decide what will be important to us this year. Will it be academics? Our friends? Our extracurricular activities? Our family? Our faith? Or a bit of all of them? As I start my own senior year, I myself find that, even with my three years here, a new year opens the door for a whole new room of possibilities. And let me tell you, this “room” of possibilities is intimidating. I’m asking myself, “How in the world am I going to fill up the rest of this room and how am I to sort through what has already been placed in here?” My new friends, my old friends. My old interests, my new interests. It can all be overwhelming. It’s like moving day has arrived and you have to sort through all your stuff and decide what you’d like to take with you.

For me, I see each new school year as a new “room”--a new addition to the house that each of us is building. And as we move forward in our lives, we’ll be adding more and more rooms that we can fill up with experiences, people, and ideas. God helps us construct that room to be just the right size and shape for us. But it’s our job to fill it. And slowly but surely, we’ll create our “house”. Our home.

As we begin this year, we are called not only to work on our new room, but look back on our old rooms, and appreciate those too. To the first year students just starting at Santa Clara, building this new room you’re making may be a bit scary, as it looks different from anything you’ve seen before. For the sophomores and juniors, though its familiar, you’re going to try to make this one unique and different from last year’s room. And as for the seniors, this is the last room you'll get to make at Santa Clara. Make it the best one yet. You’ll treasure these rooms. These experiences. These memories.

I don’t know about you all, but I think this year’s room is going to be amazing. I’m decorating mine right now. And it’s already looking great. Don’t stress. It may look a little chaotic right now. But in the end, I know it’ll end up looking just how you want it to. 

Happy Week Two and welcome home everyone. 

Katherine is a senior English major with a minor in Communication and Theatre. She is involved in various activities on campus related to the arts and spirituality, including the upcoming production of "Pride and Prejudice." She loves to bake and dance and can often be found having good conversation with her friends in Campus Ministry. She will be one of our regular bloggers this year.