You might not think that I was 25 years old and married if you saw me in your class. The few students who find out tell me that they never would have thought I was older and I’m never really sure whether to take this as a compliment or a shot at my maturity level.

You might be wondering, “25 and in college?”… And no, I’m not getting a Ph.D. I am an undergraduate student planning on graduating in December, 2010. After high school I moved to Dallas to pursue a music career, playing in a band with a few buddies from home. We played often in clubs in downtown Dallas, as well as on the SMU campus a couple times (I met my beautiful wife, Holly, in 2003 while she was a student here) until 2005, at which point each member of the band went separate ways and I started school at a local community college.

After spending three to four years living paycheck to paycheck and working various jobs, including a two-year stint as a barista at Starbucks, I have a more realistic understanding of life without an education like the one we are privileged to get here at SMU. This in turn helps me to understand the value, not just in dollars but also in quality of life, of a solid education and a college degree.

That doesn’t mean that the right decision will always be obvious. Most people looked at me like I was crazy when I told them I wasn’t going to college, and even I was a little unsure of how good of a decision it was. In the end, however, I have no regrets because that choice led me to Dallas, SMU and to Holly.

So how does this experience make me different from most on this campus? Have I really gained so much “wisdom” in my four or five extra years that it makes sense for me to give advice in a column that is not even supposed to be an advice column?

One thing I have learned is that college students don’t always have the best ability to see the big picture. It is easy to get wrapped up in campus life and not realize that decisions you make when you are 19 will still be affecting you when you are 25, 40, or 60 years old. It’s as if college campuses make people think they are in some sort of bubble, and then that bubble suddenly pops at graduation and they are thrown violently back into the real world. On Wednesday alone, two different upper-class writers for The Daily Campus mentioned a sort of fear or excitement about the “real world” that lies beyond SMU. Let me assure you, when you reach that awakening moment there will be decisions you will look back on with either regret or satisfaction.

My goal in telling you this is not to sound like a nagging parent and make sure you’re keeping up in your classes or doing your homework. I don’t want to tell you what to do or what not to do. I simply am hoping to encourage you to understand the opportunity that you have in your time at SMU, and to think carefully about the decisions you make, because, like it or not, they will follow you for the rest of your life.

Oh and don’t do drugs.

-Bradley Olmstead

Associate Sports Editor