Harrassment will happen, prepare to adapt
Dear Freshmen,
Welcome to Syracuse University. You are at the beginning of a journey that you’ll be sure to remember as the best four years of your life. Go ahead, fail a few exams, skip some classes, get drunk on a Wednesday afternoon. Forget the freshman 15 – order all the Dominoes cheesy bread you want and gain the freshman 20.
This is your chance to have fun, get drunk and be irresponsible. Don’t fail out, just make sure you finish freshman year with a couple stories you won’t be telling your grandkids.
With that said, I’m sure you’re excited for the year ahead. But, you’re still a freshman. You’re back at the bottom and, yes, you possess freshmen qualities that the upperclassmen will notice – and make fun of you for.
You will try to enter Carnegie Hall the wrong way (and the fact that you just asked yourself what that means is a freshman quality). You will ask someone which building is Sims Hall and they will direct you to Bowne Hall. You will get loudly laughed at when you go out at 8:30 p.m. expecting to find a party. And you will travel in an obnoxiously large group of 10 or more people that will get you honked and yelled at.
But it’s OK, embrace it. Enjoy the embarrassment. Get creative! Carry a water bottle of vodka with you on Friday nights and take a shot whenever you hear someone scream ‘FRESHMEN!’ Let yourself laugh when a car full of juniors (which may or may not include me) throw snowballs at you during your frigid walk from Sadler Hall to Euclid Avenue on a Saturday night.
Do not whine or complain about how the upperclassmen are treating you. We were treated like that once upon a time. We know how it is and we don’t care if you’re annoyed, aggravated or upset. Before you know it, you won’t be a freshman anymore and you’ll miss the attention it got you.
Oh, but make sure you wear the orange lanyard with your ID card attached around campus! Some people might tell you it’s not cool, but they’re just trying to trick you.
Published on August 29, 2010 at 12:00 pm
