Mingchen Shen/ Daily Nexus

A letter from Daily Nexus Editor in chief Carissa Quiambao to incoming freshman.
Mingchen Shen/Daily Nexus

Class of 2018:

You’ve made it. Finally. After years of dragging your ass to class every day at 8 a.m. Monday through Friday, after arduous hours sitting through the dreaded SAT test and after endless days drafting your awkwardly self-exalting Personal Statement, you have finally made it. You’ve managed to climb your way amongst other applicants with an average GPA of 4.05 up to this pretty little paradise we call home — UCSB. Truly and sincerely, there is no place like it. And while you will hear time and time again this continual mantra about UCSB’s beauty, the UCSB community and the unparalleled UCSB experience, trust me — it will never get old.

We’ve got a Mediterranean climate and a beach as our backyard; absolutely breathtaking mountains for hiking, biking, cliff-jumping, rock-climbing and exploring; world-class academic programs, professors and facilities; easy access to opportunities to study abroad around the globe; and not to mention a wildly unique collaboration-over-competition community of unbelievably talented and passionate individuals we call peers.  But even beyond that is something that runs deeper: a sort of Gaucho spirit, if you will, that binds Gauchos of all ages, around all corners of the world.

That being said, this may possibly be the best place to spend what many call “the best years of your life,” although in actuality these years will only be the beginning.  You will test your limits (with both your capacity to learn and your capacity to hold liquor), challenge your mind and your hard-held beliefs about the world, discover people and places and ideas you never before fathomed and you will make mistakes… a lot.

But that’s the beautiful thing about this time in your life — the mistakes you make will only further propel you toward excellence. And hell, if you really are fucking up in life (which I highly doubt though I guarantee you will feel occasionally), how bad can life be when you’re right next to the ocean? By virtue of being here, you are blessed. So don’t take your blessings for granted. Go out there and make something of yourself, go try to drive change in the world! Believe me, many people around you will be doing just that.

On a more solemn note, you are probably aware of the shootings that occurred in May, taking the lives of six UCSB students. While it is difficult to talk about the tragedy, it is a reality that would be irresponsible of us not to address.  Regardless of outsiders’ opinions or perceptions of UCSB and Isla Vista in light of the tragedy, as a part of a staff that bore the brunt of reporting every step of the atrocity, I can sincerely say that the UCSB community has only become stronger as a result, and efforts to make positive change will only continue on our ends.

Solemnity aside, the Nexus will always work to tell you the truth. Even if it’s ugly, or hard-to-swallow, or makes you mad, we will always work to give you and the rest of the community what you all deserve — the objective, unadulterated truth. In an effort to continue serving you, reader, the Nexus has recently undergone an unprecedented change. We are going from printing physical papers three times a week to printing once a week in order to shift focus to our online editions. It’s a bittersweet decision, as the Nexus has printed daily since the 1970s, but it’s a decision that had to be made in the face of reality. Print journalism is dying, but journalism itself will continue to live and thrive. Its medium has simply changed from printed paper to the digital realm, and the Nexus plans to be at the forefront of that change.

As you flip through these pages you’ll find local news, some great tips and tricks for navigating your first year on campus, guides for delicious local eats and more. But don’t stop there. Check out our Website at dailynexus.com, “like” us at facebook.com/dailynexus and follow us at twitter.com/dailynexus for fresh online exclusives, features and more. Be sure to keep up on your Daily Nexus reading. Or, if you want to see something different from us, come join our staff!

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