Don’t be afraid to get lost during your freshman year at Iowa State.

Thousands of paths exist on campus in every direction imaginable.

If you find yourself on the yellow brick road, I can assure you that you’re on the wrong path. It’s not real, so be careful. Don’t trust any of the oompa loompas.  

Get involved. You’re here to get an education, but that shouldn’t consume your entire ISU career. You’ve reached the final point in your life before you enter the “real world.” Enjoy these next four years and have fun. Explore campus; I’m still finding restaurants, buildings and roads I never knew existed. 

There is an endless list of student clubs and organizations you can view at www.stuorg.iastate.edu/org-listing

Don’t scroll through every name of each club and read every description because by the time you reach the bottom of the list, the club you’re looking for will already be on the runway.

Close your eyes and pick one. If that club isn’t right for you, try another one. 

Don’t waste your time at Iowa State. 

Four years presents plenty of time to try new activities, join new clubs and make new friends, but you will learn the first week on campus that time runs faster here. At least it seems that way.

Two weeks will feel like one, two months will feel like one and by the end of the year, you won’t be able to separate weeks from months.

If time begins moving faster than you think it should, you’re on the right path.

When I first arrived on campus, I knew my passion was sports reporting and from previous campus visits I knew right where to go — the Iowa State Daily.

Within the first week of joining the staff I began working on my first assignment.

I had the opportunity to write a second angle from the 2014 rugby match between Iowa and Iowa State at Lied Recreation Field. 

I lived at Wilson Hall, just south of campus, and the only places I knew how to get to were my classes, Storms Dining and the Memorial Union.

I got lost. I traveled west instead of east, but ironically I found Cap Timm Field, the home of the ISU Baseball Club, which I would cover during the last couple months of my freshman year.

I still made it to the rugby match on time and I remember focusing all my attention on the scoring — which team scored and at what time in the game they scored.

By the end of the game, I had a notebook full of numbers and realized I was better suited to write a box score, not a story that would get published in the newspaper three days later. 

Post-game interviews were even more of a nightmare. 

It was a learning experience, two if you count me discovering which way is north.

Within those first few assignments I learned I was on the right path because no day was ever the same.

I’ve completed more than 200 assignments during my two years working at the Iowa State Daily. Those assignments have ranged from becoming a free agent in intramurals to Joni Ernst’s inaugural Roast and Ride event, where seven GOP presidential candidates gave speeches about their campaign.  

There have been assignments I didn’t enjoy, but each one has been beneficial in helping improve.

Take advantage of every you opportunity you get here on campus. Your class schedule, homework assignments and exams will consume a large chunk of your day, but you will be able to find time to participate in activities on campus. 

That could mean cutting your lunches from 30 minutes to 15 or watching only one episode of your favorite episodes on Netflix each night instead of two. 

You will learn a lot about your area of study from classes you take, but the student clubs and organizations will provide you with the most hands-on learning experiences. 

That may mean cornering your opponent’s king into checkmate in an Iowa State Chess Club tournament or helping the ISU Robotics Club build its next robot.

Surround yourself with great people. 

I’ve been fortunate to have great editors and advisers around me during my two years working at the Daily who have always found time to help me when I’ve struggled or have had questions.

Those are the kind of people who will help you learn and succeed and there is no shortage of them here on campus.

Take care of what you need to take care of today — go to class, finish all your assignments, have fun, sleep only when you need to and have some more fun. If you do this, tomorrow will take care of itself.

Don’t start living for the weekends. 

If I could, I would trade my remaining Fridays at Iowa State for two Mondays.

Your time here is limited. Enjoy it and take advantage of every second you have.