After a very long summer away from school, we have finally returned home as upperclassmen, and we get to laugh as the freshmen go to lame orientation activities. However, I can't help but sit here and reminisce about the wondrous experience that is freshman year and feel sentimental about all of the things we did that we won't be able to do anymore. As fun as it is to be an upperclassmen, there's really nothing quite like your first year. It's a once in a lifetime experience, and it's amazing.
There are a lot of things that you just don't get to do after you're done with freshman year, and the most quintessential part of that is living in the dorms. Practically every freshman in the history of college has had to experience the thrills of community living, so it bonds us together. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of things that I definitely WON'T miss about living in a dorm (number one being living across the hall from the boys' bathroom... ew), but man, we have a good time. I'll never really understand how it's possible, but we managed to make a home out of a tiny room, and we managed to make a family out of the weirdos that lived next door. Living in the sorority house is great so far, but needless to say, there's a lot of estrogen in here. Sometimes you gotta have some bro time. Very few things are more enjoyable than spending a Saturday or Sunday afternoon hanging out on someone's futon, watching Netflix, and eating junk food. It's very therapeutic.
The rules aren't the same at every school, so not every freshman gets the experience, but of course living in the dorms means DORM STORMING. You can't help but have a love/hate relationship with the memories of dorm storming. It's honestly great, because that's where you inevitably meet your freshman year friends and make your first memories together. Everyone hates it at one point or another, just because no one knows where to go and it's a desperate search for someone with an older brother or sister who will supply the party. But really, it bonds the class together. Nothing forces friendship like hiding from RAs!
Really though, one of the best parts of being a freshman is that you can kind of dope around and be an idiot because the upperclassmen will all just say "Hey, they're freshmen. It happens." That means that when you don't know how to open your mailbox or you get locked out of your room or someone has to walk you back home from a party, you get a free pass just because you're the noobs on campus and everyone takes care of you. Being an upperclassman means you're supposed to have your shit together, which is unfortunate because most of us don't. I'll always miss the days when I wasn't expected to know my major or have a summer internship or network or know what I'm doing with my life. Those were the days.
Class of 2019, enjoy this year. You'll meet some really great people and have a lot of fun and learn a lot of very important life lessons. And, if you ever start feeling bad about yourself, just remember that on the very first day of classes last year, my shoe broke while I was walking to my last class so I had to walk barefoot into the first day of Calculus. I pray that you have a better first day than I did.
