I’m not saying its spring, because as a Minnesotan, I know the moment people start rejoicing in spring is the moment Mother Nature drops a giant blizzard on everyone’s heads. But if, hypothetically, it were spring, that would make me happy, because spring is awesome.

I love spring for reasons you probably don’t suspect. Winter is the same thing every single day, blah blah blah. When you step out the door on a spring morn you don’t know — unless you’re no fun and watch the weather — if it’ll be gorgeous or snowing. Winter makes people stagnant and lazy, whereas spring is chaotic and people are energetic.

Spring is the time to do everything you wanted to do in winter, but never actually did. Maybe you’re unhappy with yourself right now. It’s a sad fact that lots of people are unhappy with themselves. You do not have to be one of them.

The thing about college is that whatever you were in high school, prom queen, football star, or nerd, does not limit you anymore. Anybody can change, especially when no one here, or at least very few people, know your history.

It doesn’t matter what you want to be, in a college of more than 28,000 students, you can find some friends.

The following is my list of spring recommendations.

• Try something different. Something maybe you don’t think you’ll like. Never had sushi? There’s no time like today to try. Wish you could ride a unicycle or juggle? There’s an entire club that I’m sure would love to teach you, the Juggling and Unicycling Club. Wish you were Indiana Jones but know nothing about anthropology? There’s a club for that too, the Anthropology Club. If your hero is Paul Bunyan, maybe Forestry Club is for you. There are hundreds of clubs on campus with a comprehensive list located at: http://sodb.stuorg.iastate.edu/list.php. You have no excuse, so go for it. The worse that happens is that you know for sure it’s not for you.
• Meet new people. If you really go after the first recommendation, then this should just naturally happen. Go out and talk to people you normally wouldn’t. If you’re from a small town in Iowa and have never traveled, go meet some international students. Perhaps you’re very religious; go talk to someone not so inclined. Listen. Understand. Nobody is saying you must agree. Only good things can happen when you decide to open your mind.
• Start exercising. If you’re unhappy with yourself, doing what you’ve always done is not going to change that. If exercising is not something you do often, please let me remind you of a few of the benefits: more energy, higher metabolism and general health. Perhaps you’ve attempted to work out before and you cannot stick with it or be productive, or you prefer to work out in an unconventional method because running, ellipticals and, stationary bikes are boring. I suggest either assembling a group to work out or join an existing group. That way there is a routine to stick to and people expecting to see your shining face. Maybe you walked into Cyclone Martial Arts Club and watched a practice and felt slightly intimidated. Maybe you thought, “I can’t do that,” for whatever reason. You’re wrong; redefine yourself and your boundaries. It’ll be good for you.
• Become a good student. I think during the winter we all get a little lax on our studies. It happens because school can sometimes be boring and little to no fun. But with just a few weeks left we need to suck it up and put on our big boy and girl pants. Go to class, do your homework and study, so that later you can do fun things like get a good GPA, get out of school and not have to flip burgers for a living.
• Maintain a positive mental attitude. Sounds dorky, I know, but it actually works. If you’re feeling down, smiling will actually make you happier; even if it’s a fake smile. Laughter can actually increase your life expectancy. The more you smile and laugh tends to mean the less stressed you are in life, and stress is actually quite hard on your body, mentally and physically.

Try some of this out for a few weeks. Even if you’re completely happy in life, you don’t know — you might be missing your life’s calling. Spring is a time for change, so try out new things and expand your world. Life’s waiting, so do some spring cleaning and dust those cobwebs off. It’s now warm enough to go outside and pursue it.