Farewell Column by Rachel Baye | Why can’t we be enemies?

Everyone at Penn should make an enemy.

An enemy is a mark that you have taken a leap of faith — and that your leap has landed you in a metaphorical ravine. If you have made an enemy, you have taken a risk.

Not all enemies are Sue Sylvester or Darth Vader. Not all enemies are even people. Enemies include that upper-level class that you realized too late you were unqualified for. They include the election for class president that you lost or the basketball team that kicks Penn’s ass every year.

When I first arrived at Penn, I wasn’t afraid of making enemies. I didn’t even know enemies existed. I imagined striding onto campus and instantaneously winning everyone over. I would ace all my classes and become the best reporter The Daily Pennsylvanian had ever seen.

Needless to say, reality hit very quickly.

As college progressed, my enemies only grew. I discovered classes I couldn’t handle (hello, Astronomy 101), and I learned the hard way that life at the DP can be taxing.

But I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

I have met people for whom Penn is easy. They ace all their classes and get eight hours of sleep every night. They don’t get into late-night arguments about their extracurricular involvements because they don’t have extracurricular involvements — other than drinking and partying, that is.

While I’ll admit that there have been sleep-deprived nights when I’ve wished that I’d taken it easy, I pity those who have never known a challenge. At the end of every challenge comes the reward: the knowledge that I could overcome it.

Worse than someone who takes the easy road, though, is someone who refrains from doing something out of fear.

Too often Penn students are afraid to say what they think because of potential repercussions — potential enemies. They don’t want to take a public stand in the name of a good cause in case their future employer doesn’t approve. They don’t want to run for an extracurricular office because they don’t think they can win, and they won’t apply to that competitive job because they don’t think they are qualified.

In the words of T.S. Eliot, “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” Sure, those who don’t take the leap don’t ever end up landing in the mud, but they also don’t go as far.

I admire my peers who have stood up and taken a risk, maybe making an enemy or two. I admire the students who knew they would be yelled at but decided to express their opinions anyway.

To those of you who still have some time left at Penn, whether it’s one year or three, take the challenge. Try something new and meet new people. Make an enemy or two. If you’re getting straight A’s, take a harder class or one in an unfamiliar field. You’ll never know that you’re a natural at chemistry if you don’t brave the pre-med curve and give it a try. Maybe you’ll fail. Maybe chemistry will be your new enemy. Maybe not.

The best lesson I have learned at Penn had nothing to do with calculus or Chaucer, though those classes may have helped me learn it. Penn has taught me how to face a challenge and come out on the other side, albeit perhaps with a scrape or two.

Have there been nights when my stress brought tears to my eyes? Of course. Do I have regrets? Absolutely. But the fact that I took risks and made enemies is not one of them.

Rachel Baye, a former Executive Editor, is a College senior from Marietta, Ga. After graduation, she will work as a reporter for The Washington Examiner.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.