We are the class of 2004, we are freshmen. We have entered into a world quite different from the many different ones we've known perhaps our whole lives. Some of us come from cities, some of us come from suburbs, some of us come from the middle of nowhere. Some come from across the country, and some come from across the world. We are each our own person. We are "wedge rats" and we are "party animals". We are girls and we are boys. We are jocks and we are geeks (well, okay, so we all are at least a little geeky). Most of all, though, we are people-free people. We have the chance to make our college experience as great as we want it to be, and if we embrace that chance we will all have a great four or five years of our lives.
The important thing to remember, and to truly believe, is that you do have the ability to affect the world around you, and, for the next four years, you especially have the chance to make our WPI community as great as you'd like it to be. We must all believe that we can make a difference-that our actions do matter.
If you would like WPI to be a place where people smile at friends and strangers alike, then you must make the effort to do this yourself. If you'd like WPI to be a non-racist, non-sexist atmosphere, then you must be mindful of how you treat and think of others. If you'd like your dorm room to be a place where people can stop by for support, assistance, or just a good time, then you must make an effort to express that in action as well as words.
As each one of us here at WPI acts, thinks, and lives the way we really want to, WPI will itself form to what we want it to be. In this way, WPI will become what everyone here wants it to be, and we will all have a great place to live-through the good and the bad. I believe that it is the policy of WPI to provide a place where each person can be themselves and still be a part of the larger whole. This is a very important policy, and one that we must embrace if we are to have a great experience living, learning, playing, and growing here at WPI.