Headed to Wake next semester? If so, you have a lot to be excited about.

Over the course of your freshman year, you will make a ton of awesome friends and become involved with many great organizations. And as you might have heard, orientation will be a blast. You will spend this time meeting your class, enjoying Wake's nightlife and growing accustomed to your new home.

If you are curious about what to expect, here’s an your first day of class might look like as a member of the Wake Forest class of 2018.

10:00 a.m. – You attend your first Spanish class and strike up a conversation with a girl.

You’re from D.C. and so is she. “I feel like there’s so many kids from D.C. here”, you tell her. “Yeah D.C. and Atlanta,” she replies. 

11:15 a.m. - You head to your next class – FYS (First Year Seminar).        

You meet a dude who knows your cousin from Atlanta. “Where else did you apply?” you ask the guy. “Vanderbilt, UNC, Chapel Hill and UVA, he says.” “Nice, me too.” He asks you about Gonzaga, Prep and Landon. You ask him about Westminster, Lovett and Holy Innocents'. The name game begins.        

Other freshmen in your class are talking about parties from the previous night. You hear people mentioning ‘machis.’ “What exactly is a machi?” You wonder. “Is it a type of chip? An insect that invades fraternity parties?” You don’t understand, but you feel like you should know so you don’t ask anyone.   

12:30 p.m. Lunchtime.       

You eat in Benson with your buddies from orientation. It’s pretty cool they have sushi here, you think. You try to convince yourself that it’s tasty.        

You look over at the salad line. You are convinced that Wake hired models to stand in line and order salads all day. 

1:15 p.m. You’re in Health and Exercise Science class. You don’t take it seriously, texting your friends back home, and hope the professor doesn't notice. 

2:45 p.m. You are done with class for the day. There are two questions that have been on your mind since you got to Wake, but you have been too embarrassed to ask anyone. First, “Where is this alleged forest?” And secondly, “What is the relationship between Wake and Reynolda?... Like, what is that? And who is Reynolda?” 

3:00 p.m. You get a text from your orientation buddy and head over to his room in South Residence Hall. You meet his hall mates. They seem much cooler than your Bostwick friends. You marvel at the architecture. “What is this? A hotel?” You ask. “How did I get stuck in Bostwick?” 

3:45 p.m. You walk back over to Bostwick. On the way, you notice several runners. You wonder if there is a school-wide race going on that you are somehow unaware of.  

3:50 p.m. You get back to your humble room. Looking at your old furniture, your tiny desk and cracked window, you remember your tour of Wake Forest last spring. You remember visiting the beautiful Business school that day. You cannot grasp the fact that your Bostwick room and the Business school are part of the same campus. 

4:15 p.m. "Oh well," you think. Nap time I guess. 

6:00 p.m. Time for the first, of many, dinners at the pit.     

You know you like the Mongolian station, but you want to try something new. You grab a slice of pizza. You make a mental note to stick to the Mongolian grill.

8:00 p.m. You are playing FIFA with your roommate, and the quiet kid next-door is watching. The loud New Jersey guy from down the hall comes in. Everyone assumes he’s cool because he name drops like crazy, but you are not sure how you feel about him. “I know where we should go tonight,” he says. You look at your roommate with hesitance.  “Guys it’s cool… I’ve got numbers,” he says. You don’t know what this means and you already don’t like this guy, but you don’t know any better so you agree. 

9:30 p.m. You arrive at the halls—whatever that means. 

10:15 p.m. You are picked up in a Jeep Patriot. Girls push past you and pile in. You gladly get in the trunk. “It’s really nice of these guys to volunteer to drive us to their parties” you tell your roommate. 

10:25 p.m. You arrive at the party. You have no idea where you are or how far away you are from campus.

10:30 p.m. You grab a drink. It tastes just like Kool-Aid. 

11:06 p.m. You go outside to pee. You wonder, “are we in a family neighborhood? I don’t understand... How does this work?”

11:33 p.m. It’s loud. Rap and EDM blast through the speakers. “I don’t know what this girl is saying but she’s attractive so I’m just going to nod and smile and say I’m having a good time.” 

11:54 p.m. You talk to another freshman dude. You know you have met him before but you cannot recall his name. “Sorry man, I forgot your name,” you say. “Yeah you too man.” You both claim you are terrible with names and laugh it off. This same dynamic happens 16 more times that night. 

12:31 a.m. You talk to one of the brothers of the fraternity for a few minutes. He knows one of your friends from home and you talk about that. “Yo, lemme get Scottie so I can get you on the email list,” he says. You don’t see him again. 

12:48 a.m. The music changes.       

“My parents would love these song choices,” you think. “Why did everyone just go insane when Dancing in the Moonlight by King Harvest came on? I don’t understand. Is this a wedding?” 

1:12 a.m. Your friend from down the hall – the Jersey kid with the numbers- convinces you to leave and head down the street to another party. 

1:24 a.m. You arrive at the other party. This place is similar to the other place. Same music, same Kool-Aid. But the girls are hotter and the guys are bigger. You recognize several girls from the salad line.   

1:47 a.m. An older girl keeps screaming in your ear telling you how lucky you are to be a freshman. “I cannot even tell you… like it’s not fair. Like literally,” she says in a raspy voice.

1:54 a.m. You find yourself in a conversation you don’t really want to be in. You’re talking to a sophomore guy who’s telling you about his high school lacrosse career. To get out of the situation, you tell the guy you’re going to get another drink. 

2:09 a.m. Tired and hungry, you head outside. You see your friend from South. You and him take the next ride back to campus.  

2:16 a.m. Your friend from South is tired, but you really want subway. You head to subway, alone. You see the girl from Spanish class. You order an Italian B.M.T. and sit with her. You like this girl. Her name is Anne Campbell. 

2:28 a.m. You scarf down your sub. It is the best sandwich you've ever tasted.

2:36 a.m. You get Anne Campbell's number and head back to Bostwick. 

2:44 a.m. Entering your room, you see the quiet kid across hall, passed out on the middle of your floor. In one hand, a brown sugar pop-tart, and an easy-mac bowl in the other. You wake him up, and tell the weirdo to leave. 

3:08 a.m. You go to sleep, #nervousbutexcited to see Anne Campbell tomorrow in Spanish class.