All it took to fit in was finally taking the advice I give

Sometimes I find it ironic that as a Peer Advisor my job is to help freshmen find their place at our University. I say that because it took two years for me to re­ally come into my own and find my place here at Seton Hall. Talk about not taking your own advice. I think I have always been caught up in doing what others expect me to do and for the first time in my entire life I do things the way I would do them.

When I started my college ca­reer, I wanted to be a reporter. It is what I had been told I was good at all throughout high school and it is what everyone had decided I should do. It took a year of jour­nalism classes and a semester as News Editor to realize that I might have gotten that wrong. If any of you are reading this that are avid readers of our paper you know that things did not always go so well for me last year as News Editor. That did not mean I was not trying, it just meant that I was learning, that I was desper­ately trying to find my place as a student, a writer and an editor. I think as Pirate Life Editor I have. Taking on this position was some­thing I never saw happening, but I can promise you that I am glad it has.

The point is my life at this cam­pus has always revolved around this newspaper and for the longest time we sort of had a tumultu­ous relationship. Yet now, like so much in my life, we are in a good place. I love what I do in every aspect of my life. I love my ma­jor, my position at the paper, my job in Freshmen Studies and many other things that I will spare this column of right now. While it is just a school newspaper, it means much more to me. It represents much more to me. It always has and it always will.

The idea for this column sparked sometime last week after the Seto­nian first published. In these past two years as a member of this pa­per, I have never been more proud or happier of the work I had done then I was last Thursday hold­ing my first issue as Pirate Life Editor., looking at the pages that myself and the Pirate Life team helped to complete. It hit me then that finally, after two years at Se­ton Hall University, I had found my place.

This is not to say that I did not feel welcome before, because my campus involvement has blessed me with so many friends and men­tors. However, I finally feel on the right track.

I seem to be following the ad­vice I give my students; do not tire yourselves out, have fun, work hard and enjoy yourselves. I for once am doing all of this. I work hard and I have fun, all in good moderation. Work is good, life is great.

Ashley Duvall is a junior public relations major from Vernon, NJ. She can be reached at Ashley.duvall@student.shu.ed