College isn’t only about grades; it’s about connection. It’s about knowing you belong somewhere, not just in a classroom, but in a community. Transfers bring resilience, fresh perspectives and determination to succeed, and it’s time for us to be fully included in the community.

Understanding where we go from here is pivotal. If we treat every life lost as nothing more than ammunition for ideological battles, we deny the sacredness of human life itself. This is not the time for rash remarks or partisan point-scoring; it is time for genuine change.

The only thing that comes into fruition from the medium of violence is a wounded side and a less wounded side. No one comes out on top. There is no victory in destruction — only pain. And pain is the only thing that will continue in this country until we return to empathy.

As we reflect on the impact social media has had on our 2025 minds, it is much less positive. Social media has produced an anxiety-ridden, disconnected and apathetic generation. Our minds are filled with constant noise and comparison. Every major and minor tragedy is broadcast to us in grotesque detail.

Come Friday afternoon, Barfield Drawing Room will be teeming with parents, tickets will be sold out for Baylor football’s non-conference clash with Samford and families clad in green and gold will flood 5th Street. For many, the promise of Family Weekend brings eager anticipation.

As stated in The Oxford Blue, “Music from the past is music with history, music that creates more than a desire to dance, it creates specific feelings of a particular moment in time, even if we weren’t necessarily alive at the time.”