It’s Sunday as I sit down to write this, but this is not your typical Sunday. This is the Sunday after Welcome Week.

This is the Sunday after dancing on elevated surfaces for a week straight. This is the Sunday after Game Day. This is the Sunday after waking up in the same clothes you wore the night before (no regrets whatsoever).

Even though I’m a sophomore and I’m supposed to know that combining lack of sleep with intense dartying only leads to groggy mornings and a loss of self-respect, I’ve still fallen victim to the power of Welcome Week. Its sun kissed beauty and effluvious scent - which Wolverines know all too well - can lead even the smartest and most composed of individuals end up face-down, ass-up at The Pit.

So how do you know if you’ve survived Welcome Week? How do you know if you still have enough dignity to start classes on Tuesday? How do you know that the guy you hooked up with at Skeeps isn’t gonna be your lab partner in that bio class your advisor is making you take? The answer is…you don’t.

Maybe that’s half the fun of Welcome Week. It’s the unknown of it all. There are so many people you have yet to meet and so many things you have yet to do. For example, I went to Rod’s for the first time last night. Who knew that you could mix Cheerios, Snickers, rainbow sprinkles, pretzels and gummy bears and it'd actually taste good? That’s Ann Arbor for you: an eclectic mix of people, places and things.             

Speaking of Ann Arbor, how is it that real people actually live here? As soon as students invaded campus, I wondered how anyone could actually drive on State Street or alone walk through the Diag without seeing a naïve freshman stumbling about. (Note to self: don’t raise your kids in Ann Arbor because they will be exposed to inebriation way too early on.)

Despite the congestion, Ann Arbor really comes alive during Welcome Week. You never know how much you love Michigan until you experience a football Saturday. There’s so much pride and drunk chanting that you can’t help but fall in love with this quirky town. If you can’t tell by my rambling, I just really, really love Michigan.             

To my dear freshmen: If you’re feeling nervous about school, don’t be. You will make friends. You will eat ample amounts of Pizza House. You will spend too much time in the library. You will go out when you should stay in. You will celebrate when you get a B+.

Last but not least, you will love Michigan. Give yourself the time to adjust to this awesome new life you’re about to start. It may be overwhelming at times and you might consider taking the easier route, but I promise you that you will never find a place that will challenge you more and surprise you in ways as nothing else ever has. 

Welcome to Ann Arbor!