Let’s trounce one obnoxious UMB advertising slogan: success is measured in degrees. No. Success is measured by what we can do and by what we have done. A college degree is one road sign on a path to success. What matters is everything we’ve done to get to that point. Because education is a tool, we’re after it. Checking off classes, jumping through the hoops, the writing tests, the math requirements, we want to be better people. We want to improve our lives, and our incomes. As a student body, we’re not disengaged. We work. We commute. We have families and lives off campus. We study hard, and we schedule our classes in blocks, so that we can spend our small amount of free time at home with people we love. We are engaged in our education. But we don’t have much time for student clubs. Commuter schools have their own benefits: they draw people from all walks of life; they are affordable. But students that live in dorms at other universities around Boston have one luxury that students at UMB don’t. They have time to create communities at their college. They invest in their future, in their networks, in their careers, in their success, because they want to be in the upper echelons of society when they graduate. There’s no reason why you can’t do the same at UMB. Being involved in Student Life and Activities is one of the best things we can do for our education. Not only does it offer a sense of satisfaction, it’s fun and a great way to figure out what you like and what you’re good at. And you might be surprised to know how many different hobbies there are to take up while going to school here. You can play rugby, sail, sort out your finances, read your poetry aloud. Google “UMB SA Groups” and you’ll find a list of over a hundred active student clubs, and if there’s not one there that’ll fit your interests, you can make your own. It’s easy. There’s no need to watch Animal House for the umpteenth time and fantasize about real college. There can be Greek life right here at UMB. It’s just waiting for you to take a little initiative to get it going. You can get a degree from DeVry. You could buy ten degrees from Phoenix University. The slogan, “success is measured in degrees,” posted in the Science Center sounds clever. But it undercuts the reality of our college experience, and the importance of being involved in your community as a student. There’s no scale for measuring the value of the relationships you can create at this university. Make the most of your college experience while you’re here. Be interested. Engage your fellow students.