Editorial

Ah, change. It’s a fact of life. It’s the only permanent state. Okay, there are a lot of cliches that we could fit in here, but let’s get down to it: Change is all around us at Millikin, and it’s exciting.

And our plans are constantly changing, too, which is scary.

One look around campus, and you can see some major changes that are already underway. Over the summer, the new Theater and Dance building transformed from a metal skeleton into the nearly-completed brick building it is today. Before that, it was a pit of dirt, and before that, it was the site of the Richards Treat University Center.

Several students still remember when the University Commons was just an idea. This building has become a place for students to study, collaborate, and learn. Plus, the UC houses the caf, which every student will tell you is pretty much the single most important location on campus. The change from RTUC to the UC was difficult to make, but now it’s hard to imagine Millikin without it.

These changes are exciting, and our campus looks better than ever! But there are even more changes taking place behind the scenes.

Last semester, Millikin’s president, Dr. Patrick White, announced that he would be retiring after this school year. Since then, a search committee has been formed to find a new president to head our university.

While we’re sad to see President White go, we’re eager to find out more about the potential candidates and exercise our say in the search process. We’re excited to meet Millikin’s future president.

The changes at Millikin are one thing, but we’re changing all the time on a personal level, too. College is a great time to experiment with new looks, nicknames, and hobbies. We talk ourselves into trying a new restaurant or clothing style. We take up photography. We cut our own bangs and buy box hair dye on impulse.

But the changes happening around us, even those we orchestrate, are nothing compared to the internal changes that happen everyday.

As we figure out who we are and what we want out of our lives, sometimes we take leaps of faith and just hope that we’re going to land without being bruised too badly. Switching majors, dropping classes, joining clubs, ending relationships, making friends – we’re making these changes all the time.

We’re young – and human – so it makes sense that we’re still trying to figure out who we are and what we want. It makes sense that we change our lives accordingly. So why is it so terrifying?

We tend to think of change as a bad thing. We’re sad about letting go of right now and afraid of what’s coming next. And yes, sometimes we have no idea what we’re doing. No wonder we’re scared.

But there are a lot of exciting changes, too. There are polished buildings to explore and new presidents to greet. There are majors, classes, and clubs to experiment with. There are old and new people to meet and know and love.

It’s exciting. The future is a blank slate. We make changes because we’re trying to create the future we want.

As we transition into a new season and a new school year, let’s drop the narrative that change is inherently bad. We’re nostalgic for the past, but our eyes are facing forward. We’re excited for what’s coming. We see our paths ahead of us, messy and impermanent, and we’re navigating them without maps.

Yes, it’s scary. But we’re ready for it.