I can remember Freshmen orientation like it happened just yesterday. There I stood; duffel bag in hand, parents in tow, with absolutely no clue where my residence hall was. Fast forward to now, a semester later, when I’ve gotten to the point where I can call Marquette a home away from home. I can say that I’ve learned some of the ropes, but there’s no doubt that there’s plenty more to learn and more “L’s” to be taken. Here are four things I wish I knew before coming to Marquette:
1. Bus Pass: “I can show you the world”
It’s tempting to want to tuck your school issued Milwaukee County bus pass into some nook of your wallet and forget it's even there, but learning to use the public transit is just one more tool you can slip into that box as you explore the city. Once the wind chill hits, a walk to the lake may not sound quite as relaxing, and since your mom isn’t here to drop you off, you might as well learn how to get the bus driver to do it.
2. The Wifi is crappy. You’ll have to combat it with punctuality
It doesn’t matter how shiny and brand new your laptop is. Losing your network connection is not a possibility, it’s an inevitability. A majority, and I mean 90% of the time, assignments and quizzes will be submitted online. Online submissions are put in a dropbox that often will lock you out at midnight. Completing assignments in a timely manner is a MUST. Waiting until the 11:50 to submit homework due at 11:59, you’ll find your network connection lost, laptop spontaneously combusting, and Microsoft Word unable to recover that assignment you just happen to forget to save. Don’t wait to submit last minute-everything that could wrong undoubtedly will.
3. Eating in at Pita Bros? It’s a rookie mistake.
I love a good gyro as much as the next girl, and there’s reasonably guilt free Mediterranean fare right off the corner of Wisconsin Ave. and 16th. With a Subway/” build your own” set-up, you can customize your gyro, wrap, and rice bowl with your choice of meats, vegetables, and a variety of sauces. Whatever you choose, I’d recommend ordering it for the go, since the constant falafel frying coupled with all you can eat gyro almost guarantees that standing in the restaurant for more than five minutes will leave you smelling like a, well, a chunk of meat.
4. You’ll be dying to hear about Milwaukee’s killer past
Once or twice I’ll admit to sitting in my car and belting out the lyrics to whatever was playing on the radio. I’ve rapped along to Juicy J’s verse in Katy Perry’s Dark Horse: “She’ll eat your heart out, like Jeffrey Dahmer.” This allusion to one of America’s most notorious killers was something l'd forgotten about as soon as the words were out of my mouth. Little did I know, a month into attending Marquette University, that Jeffrey Dahmer was also affectionately referred to as the Milwaukee Cannibal. Milwaukee, which of course, happened to be the home of my beloved univeristy. Responsible for twenty-two murders, it turns out that the plot of land where Dahmer’s apartment once stood (the site of many of his assaults, murders and necrophilia) was located on 25th street, a mere five streets down from the University campus. The famous Ambassador Hotel sits at the corner of 23rd and Wisconsin, which also happens to be the location of Dahmer’s second murder, rumored to have happened in room 507.
