Dear Spartan: Wisdom and Reflections from Graduating Senior Robert Fields

At York College of Pennsylvania, we believe that every Spartan's journey is filled with lessons worth sharing. As part of our Dear Spartan project, six graduating seniors — representing a wide variety of majors and experiences — wrote letters to future students, offering reflections, advice, and encouragement. Their words capture the heart of what it means to be a Spartan.

Name: Robert Fields

Major: Computer Engineering

Hometown: East Stroudsburg, PA

Dear Spartan, 

First and foremost, congratulations on taking the first steps into pursuing your career, and more importantly, yourself. For some, College is not the easiest thing to decide to take on, and for others, it is the one thing that they have waited their whole life for. As a graduating senior who has attempted to do the most I could in the last 4 years, if there were some advice I would like to give, it would be the following: 

The first thing you should attempt to do is GET INVOLVED!! For the last 3 years, I have worked with Orientation either as an Orientation Leader or an Orientation Coordinator, and the biggest thing that we tell incoming freshmen is to be active in the YCP community for several reasons. In my experience, getting involved is how I met a bunch of the people I still hang out with today! College is about work-life balance, and finding the right club or activity to use as stress release is just as important as getting the schoolwork done. 

With that being said, I can attest that the work is NOT easy and calls for a considerable amount of time for studying to get through it. Depending on the person, the first year is the hardest due to dealing with the difference between High School and College workload and study habits. The key is time management and using your resources as much as possible. Our Academic Support and Tutors are some of the amazing sources that you shouldn’t feel uncomfortable using, because they are there to help you! I have seen (especially in engineering) that the tutors are other students that have done well in the class and most cases, also in the same or relatively-the-same major, so they can provide help not only with course content, but other tips and tricks to help you get through college, as they have also been in your shoes. 

My favorite resource has been the professors, as they have been more than helpful in more ways than I can count. Each professor has selected times when they are free for walk-ins to answer any questions you might have on course content, meaning that if you have any questions on homework or something said in class, they are there as another resource. More importantly, they are usually more than happy to help you with other issues outside of class. I, of course, can’t speak for other majors, but in engineering, some professors will attempt to help with any problems you throw at them, spanning from other classwork to life advice. There are one or two professors I still go to for help with my Senior Projects, and I haven’t had a class with them in over a year! They’re truly a wealth of knowledge, always ready to guide anyone who seeks their help. 

My final piece of advice would be to be okay with not doing well in anything the first time. It took me a while to get a grade I was proud of. It took me a while to find the friends that I would want to stay friends with even after college. It took me over a year and a half to get comfortable asking for help from my peers and my professors. A very wise man once said, “If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn’t have hot dogs!” and for me, that means we aren’t supposed to be perfect at anything! College is said to be the best years of your life, and I think it's because of the growth and maturity everyone has after experiencing it. Growth, unfortunately, can’t come without some adversity. But at the end of the day, growth will come in time, but it WILL happen, only if you let it. 

Take Care, and I hope you make the most out of your college experience! 

Sincerely, 

Robert Fields

This is Part 5 of our six-part Dear Spartan series. Part 6 is written by Lara Hummer, a nursing major.