EXPOSE YOURSELF. No, not in the take your clothes off and pose for a men’s magazine kind of expose. Instead, expose yourself to the world around you – the world that reveals itself to you daily in the mere presence of students from another country and culture. Most importantly, expose yourself to the world of SMU and appreciate all that it is and has to offer you.

I am in my final year at SMU, and there are a lot of things I would like to say to the upcoming classes and to my own class before I graduate. The days spent on SMU’s campus are numbered, yet too many students fail to take advantage of all that the school has to offer. There are many who maximize the social realm of SMU, particularly the Greek life, but it is a precious few who really get what college is about.

When we move out at 18-years-old, most of us have some preconceived notion of what we think college is going to be like, what SMU will be like and perhaps, what we will be like ourselves. Most of our ideas are wrong. Some think college is a time to party, but then they get grades at the end of the semester and learn differently.

Most think college is about getting through a major, entering the real world and making a fat bottom line; but unfortunately many will show up for those crucial interviews and will be denied a position because they forgot to learn about the world. They forgot to care about things that really matter.

When we leave SMU, no one is going to care what parties you went to or how drunk you intentionally became last weekend for a few laughs with your friends. People are going to care about what you know and about what is going on inside your head. If you go through your SMU career without experiencing the culture of the student body or even the culture of the world that is on display in Meadows museum or presented by the Chinese club, you may never have a clue about what the world is really like.

You can keep your preconceived notions and look small-minded and ignorant when you judge people from another race or culture, or you can spend an hour a week to find out about something other than the bubble you’ve managed to exist in for your entire life.

I encourage you to think about something bigger than yourself. Think about the world that exists outside of Dallas, outside of Texas, outside of America.

I can help you out. Wednesday evening there is an International Café sponsored by NRHH (National Residence Hall Honorary- top 1 percent of residence life on SMU’s campus), complete with an international fashion show and readings in different languages. You have an incredible opportunity to see how other cultures dress traditionally, to hear their language and literature and to taste their food.

If you live on campus, you have no excuse because it is in the Umphrey Lee Center (they ordered special food and everything!), and let’s be honest, you’ve gotta eat sometime. For those who don’t live on campus, this is an awesome chance to experience this and it is cheap. Or better yet, find someone to swipe you in, and then it’s free. It all starts at 5:30 p.m. and the show ends at 6:30 p.m. but the food will be there until the cafeteria closes. Come for the whole show, come for 10 minutes, either way, come.

You only get to experience college once. Learn about something better than beer pong or television… then maybe think about taking off your clothes.

Lauren is a senior history major. She can be reached at [email protected].