It goes without saying that a new beginning brings high hopes for everyone. At the beginning of a new semester, a spot on the Dean’s list seems possible for students. A new football season starts with an undefeated record for the Cyclones. And as always, a new baseball season brings Cubs fans saying: “This is gonna be the year!”

With life it is no different. You yourself had high hopes for the person you wanted to become. When you were seven or eight, your career path was firmly chosen. Perhaps you were going to be an astronaut and walk on the moon. It might have been the National Football League that was calling your name. Or maybe your niche was the Broadway stage. And if, for some unfathomable reason, you were unable to achieve this goal, you could always be a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.

But then one day you wake up, an hour late. You’re 21, 25 pounds overweight, unshaven — wherever you happen to shave — and you haven’t caught a shower in three days. You’ve changed your major so many times you lost count, and chances are you’re not going to be a journalist because you couldn’t pass the dang EUT. (Or was that just me?)

What happened? Where did all the high hopes go? Just yesterday you were planning on conquering the world! Now you’re not even planning on making a difference.

I think we’ve all experienced this transition. Maybe not in such a dramatic fashion, but slowly we’ve realized that we’re not the people we once dreamed we’d be. The sad thing is the reaction to this realization. Most students will just roll over and get a few more hours of sleep.

So you didn’t accomplish some of the goals you set for yourself — so what? The moon is overrated anyway. And you’re probably not going to conquer the world, but who cares? Anybody that ever tried that wound up getting executed.

But when it seems like life has gotten the better of you, should you roll over and go back to sleep?

No. You do like the 1991 Minnesota Twins. Win 15 straight after the All Star break.

Get out of bed — on time. Take a shower and shave. Start leaving your mark in the world, right now today. And don’t use the fact that you’re in college as an excuse. College students have accomplished some pretty extraordinary things.

Your mark doesn’t have to be known worldwide. You can tutor someone and help them to finally understand a subject. They’ll be grateful. You can visit people in a nursing home and make them smile for one day. They’ll never forget your name.

You can be a big brother or sister to a little kid. Your kindness will change his life. You can be a friend to someone who doesn’t have one. I guarantee you’ll be remembered.

So don’t wait until you’re a “responsible adult” to start leaving your mark because it might be too late. Marks are being made all around you. It’s time to get out of bed and join in.

By the way, the Twins won the pennant in 1991. They became the first team in Major League Baseball history to go from worst to first and take the series in one season. It can be done.

Chances are you’re not going to conquer the world, but you can sure make a dent in it.

This column originally ran Feb. 6, 1998.

Jackson Lashier is a freshman in English from Marshalltown.