SJU Senate president welcomes you

Welcome home, Johnnies.

I would like to extend a special welcome to all first-year students, and I hope that your introductory weeks have been exciting and that you are starting to settle into your new home. Returning students, I hope your summers prepared you for a year that I expect to be very exciting. As we continue the charge into the era of strong integration, I would like to ask our community of three things: to be kind, to give grace and to challenge yourself.

To be kind is many things. Yes, please hold the door for the person behind you, thank the custodians who work tirelessly to keep our common spaces clean and pick up the trash flittering across your path as you walk to class.

But I encourage you to go the extra mile. What that looks like is up to you. Act the way you want our community to be. By putting out kindness, kindness is bound to return. To give grace is challenging but required. No one is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes. This is why grace is so important.

When we support one another in this way, we contribute to the building of community and the forging of strong relationships. Giving grace to your friends, professors, and to yourself will benefit us all.

And finally, I hope for you to challenge yourself. Sit next to someone new on the Link, ask them to go to lunch. Take that class outside of your major; it could become a minor. Take that walk with Peer Resource Program, and eat that croissant—you’ve earned it. There are countless ways to challenge yourself this year, all you have to do is seek those challenges out.

In the end, I hope to see a year full of positivity and growth among Johnnies. This year, we have a special opportunity to show ourselves what we’re made of. Show ourselves and the greater community what it means to be a Johnnie and how special St. John’s really is.