CMU Is Hard

CMU is hard. CMU is really hard. It's hard for everyone, and that's okay.

When I arrived here, I thought I was used to difficulty. In high school, I had hard classes, tough teachers, and robotics, which was harder than all of that. I thought I had been toughened up. I thought I was prepared.

I was wrong. CMU is *really* hard. I had a lot of late nights, hard problems, and a never-ending pile of things due tomorrow. And as the stress piled up, I started getting headaches. For most of last semester, I was in almost constant pain. None of that has stopped, I've just gotten better at managing it.

And you know the worst thing? I'm the success story here. I have a good GPA and decent mental health. And I know that sounds like bragging, but believe me, when I look around me and see amazingly smart people struggling just as much, and yet still doing worse, it doesn't feel like an accomplishment. It feels like blind, dumb luck.

Many of my closest friends are not so lucky -- some are failing, some are fighting through mental illness, some are doing both. Some of those same people are here in this room. There are some struggling people I never knew very well. There's one guy I know who failed an important freshman pre-req last year. He was retaking it in the spring. I don't even know if he's still a student here. I hope he is.

But it isn't all doom and gloom. I've only been here a year, but in that year I've met some of the most awesome friends I've ever had, I've had some of the most amazing experiences ever, and I've grown tremendously as a person. That's the paradox of CMU; a lot of amazing people struggle, and a lot of amazing people thrive. But importantly, even the people who struggle the most can get through it to graduation and do amazing things along the way.

If you talk to enough upper-classmen, you'll find plenty of people who have gone through academic, social, mental, and physical hardships in their time here. If you meet someone like that, ask them to tell you their story. They might not want to share it with you, but if they do, learn as much as you can from their experience. I've learned so much from others' experiences. Hopefully you can, too.

What I mean to say by all this is that whether or not you're struggling right now, you aren't alone. We're here to make your time at CMU as awesome as we can, and we've been through both the struggles and the triumphs. Hell, we're going through them right now. And if you need help, or if you just want to share your latest sorrow or joy with someone, we're here for you.

Because CMU is hard. CMU is really, really hard. And struggling through it alone sucks. It's way better to struggle together. And we would love it if you struggled together with us.