For a fresh high school graduate going to college, adjusting to life away from home can be difficult. At such an early age, we aren't often thinking about professional development. Instead, early college is much like the high school we just escaped. The difference comes in when a freshman finds themselves, sometimes entirely on accident, in a program as robust and live-changing as university forensics. As a freshman, I was able to meet real state and federal judges, travel, and network in a way that often only those at elite private universities can do. This program, and others like it, is an important part of what allows the UO to stand on equal footing with other highly prestigious universities.