One of the amazing things about being a student is that while, yes, we’re usually broke, and, yes, we’re mostly just half-formed semi-adults, we have something that most people hardly ever get. We have something which is rare, but which we have in absolute abundance. We have opportunity.

Right now if you want to do anything, anything, you can—and people will support you. I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but you can do it. While you’re trapped here within the brutalist, concrete walls of this delightful and expensive institution, you can try whatever you want. You want to learn how to build robots? Go for it. You want to take up ice-dancing? Have fun. You want to perform your spoken word? Check out COW. You want to make avant-garde films for Youtube? I might not subscribe, but I totally think you should try it. 

Right now you have the opportunity try new things and fail. This is a gift. Treasure the knowledge that you can fuck up, or change your mind, or just straight up suck, and let it comfort you. You might not be very good at the things you try, but that’s okay, you don’t have to be. If you enjoy something, or you think that you might, then let yourself try it. Critics be damned. Don’t be afraid to try because you’re worried you won’t be good. People don’t start off good. Goodness is earned through hard work and through failure, so embrace your ability to fail, because it’s the only way you’ll ever get good. So go ahead, try something. We support you.

This little book is about you, dear reader, and it’s about something that you might not have even know that you’re apart of. It’s about our community. It’s about all of us out in the world who want you to try, and who will support you even if you fail. It’s about all of us who want to encourage you to build your robots, and lace up your skates, share your words, and film your weird artsy videos, and most importantly: to never be afraid to try something new.