When you go through each day doing the same routine, you can get trapped in a shell that hinders your ability to enjoy life.

The unexpected is what makes life great – like when you get a package in the mail totally out of the blue from your family or friends, or when you get invited to go out to dinner when you were planning on settling for Easy Mac or Ramen.

In order to avoid getting stuck doing the same thing every day, try doing things in a different way or saying yes to something you normally say no to. One night I was going to make my usual 6:30 Café run for dinner, but instead one of my friends in my dorm offered to order Chinese food. I was persuaded to order with him, but I was still upset about skipping out on my usual routine. However, the food ended up getting here in just 25 minutes, and they also gave us free sodas to go along with our food! We didn’t even ask for drinks. Thank you, Pagoda (203-234-8236).

Stuff like that makes you forget about anything bad that happened earlier that day. One Tuesday, I was a little ticked off about my grade in a class. Then I checked my mailbox, only to find a notice that I had a package. It turned out to be a book written by a 9-year-old titled “How to Talk to Girls.” It was from my older sister, who had told me about the book over winter break. Not only did the book provide me with laughs for the rest of the day, it made me totally forget about the bad grade I had.

This is getting to sound a lot like the movie “Yes Man” with Jim Carrey, where he says yes to every invitation he receives, but I don’t care because I believe in that movie (to a certain extent). Saying yes gets you to crack out of that shell and try something new.

When I first got to Quinnipiac, I was a “yes man.” I joined two organizations on campus and both have led me to meet awesome people and even discover what I want to do with my life.

This is why it is important to be on the lookout for opportunities and watch out for the news, because once in a while the news will directly affect you and could change your life dramatically.

I encourage you to present opportunities to other people, because sometimes it is exactly what people need to be happy.