Senior Send-off: Features & Entertainment editor ready to explore the world: Oliver Joszt

I cannot believe that four years have already passed by. It seems like yesterday that I was just a wide-eyed, shy, young freshman, who felt completely lost.

I remember coming to Rider with no sense of direction as to what I exactly wanted to do. It seemed like every other week I would fall in love with a different major and want to change my life goals. One week I would major in film and become a famous filmmaker; the next I would be an author who would travel the world with just a pencil and a notebook; and the next I would be a civil libertarian who would fight for people’s rights.

Rider provided me with many opportunities to explore what I wanted to do in life through the classes I have taken and the professors I have met along the way.  

From reading this you can probably tell that I am a huge geek. So, it should come to you as no surprise that I loved going to classes. Whether it was going to different worlds and meeting new writers in Literary History or traveling through time and seeing what the U.S. Chief Justices had to say in Civil Liberties in America, I knew that I was going to have a great time.

I met professors at Rider who seemed dedicated and excited to teach me something new. Every day that I went to class, the professor would enlighten me and provide me with some great insight on life. I owe a great deal to my professors for who I am today and the career path that I am taking.

But, I don’t want to only talk about the good things that Rider has done for me. I  also want to talk about the bad things associated with Rider during my four years here. I think with any great experience in life that you have to take the bad with the good. It’s a hard fact of life.

Weekends on campus were not always great, especially considering our “suitcase school” reputation. Sometimes, no matter how hard Rider tried, there really wasn’t anything to do on weekends besides hanging out with your friends or going some place off campus.

The living conditions in some buildings were so cramped, hot and disgusting that you weren’t sure if this was a joke. I am happy to hear that Rider has slowly started working on changing the living conditions, however where were these changes four years ago?

I loved the small personal environment of Rider; however, when mentioning Rider to people the reaction I typically got was “Where is that?” and “Isn’t that where that kid died?” After a while, it gets tedious answering the same questions over and over again.

I’m not good at giving advice, but I want students to know that college is a time to find themselves. You just have to make sure to take the time out in order to find what you want out of life.

Don’t think because you may be a junior or sophomore that you don’t have time to change what you want to do. Just don’t sit around and hope that the answers to all of life’s questions will come to your feet. Take some classes you wouldn’t normally take and talk to the professors around campus. If you’re lucky, maybe you will find that thing in life that defines you.  

Oliver Joszt was the Features and Arts & Entertainment Editor.