Once you’re here, it’s impossible to forget where you are. The name is on every building sign, proclaimed from banners and flags and students carry insignia and emblems on their clothing everywhere you look.

Yes, you are at Kent State University. No doubt about it.

A friend of mine, looking at the reverse of a huge metal archway emblazoned with the name, remarked that Kent State doesn’t say good-bye — it only welcomes. Indeed, the words of the sign only appear the right way as you approach the University, as if to insinuate to the silly folk who would think of leaving what a mistake they are making.

Kent State is a dream of a college. Large enough for the “real college experience,” small enough to walk around and recognize people from your classes. Students aren’t just people you graduated high school with — they come from all over. There’s a group or a club for everyone, or if you can’t find one, start one. If it’s solitude you’re looking for, there are shady, rambling sidewalks all throughout the campus or myriad nooks and crannies in the library. This college can give you everything you were looking for after high school — though I think most of us could do without the bone-slicing cold. But hey, I think it’s part of the charm.

Not so much, you say? You just don’t see it? Not everything is positive about Kent — there are things we love to complain about — and it’s true, some issues deserve our lamentation, such as parking or scheduling. But arguments like these are quickly countered with a simple, If you don’t like it, you can leave. You chose this university.

Why are you here? What drew you to this university? Were you looking to “find yourself,” to belong to something? Maybe just get a good education? Stop for a minute and think about how great it is to have that choice. The choice that clearly shows how much Kent State has to offer.

You’ve all heard it enough times — your time in college is what you make of it. Right now, you’re living what will soon be memories. This university has unlimited potential — just like you. When you look around at the signs that say Kent State, do you see just another redundant reminder of the college you attend, or do you see the name of a university that is constantly changing and growing in many different directions — just like your life? It doesn’t matter who you are now, or who you were — what matters is the person you want to become. When you see the words Kent State University, stop for just a moment and be thankful for the University that always welcomes.

Caitlin Brown is a freshman nursing major and a columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].