There are a lot of things I wish I knew when I started at Notre Dame just nine months ago. While some people who know me well might laugh at the idea of me giving advice, I thought I would use this opportunity to follow a childhood dream and channel my own “Dear Abby” persona. None of these questions were actually written to me, but let’s pretend I have a whole host of adoring fans, you know, like a crazy person pretends they have friends.
Dear Lael,
How fun is Frosh-o? Do you meet all of your best friends there? How crazy is Domerfest?
Love,
Mary
Great question Mary. Since you are an incoming freshman, I’m assuming you’re around 18, on the brink of adulthood, so I won’t sugar coat things for you here. Frosh-O is awful. It is literally a nightmare scenario. You have to learn a choreographed dance and serenade a group of guys from another dorm. You are then forced to mingle with them and ask “The Big Three” questions: Where are you from, what dorm are you in, what’s your major? If you are anything like me, you’ll be incredibly bored by the first two questions and have an anxiety attack about the third. So many people here have their sh*t together, it’s pretty awful. Oh and Domerfest is so nuts it’ll transport you right back to your camp dance, except the camp directors aren’t walking around asking dancers to leave room for Jesus.
Me at Domerfest.
Dear Lael,
Is Notre Dame as hard as it seems?? I’m nervous!
Love,
Katie
Don’t worry, Katie! Unless you are in the College of Engineering or Science, you are in the clear! Well, it depends on your organization skills. I didn’t realize that people wrote essays any time other than the night before until I got here. A lot of people “get ahead” and are good at “time management.” Both of those concepts are foreign to me, so I tend to struggle. But if you asked anyone with a smidge more motivation than I have, I’m sure they would tell you that the work is quite manageable! If you happen to struggle in school too, it’s completely natural, college is a huge adjustment. And when all else fails, denial is a sure-fire way to avoid the stress of the college workload.
Maybe I would be more motivated if quills were a thing?
Dear Lael,
How sweet is it to live in an all girls dorm?
Love,
Kiley
So sweet. Parietals are the life-blood of the Notre Dame community. You can wear a towel without having to worry about seeing a guy, and when a guy does come to a girls dorm, you can stare at him with your mouth agape like you’ve spotted a Dodo bird.
Dear Lael,
I’m nervous about coming to school and leaving home. How did you handle it?
Love,
Sammy
It’ll be okay Sammy. In all seriousness, even with all of Notre Dame’s quirks, I will still defend it to my death. I am currently using my handy tool of denial about the year ending because I don’t want to think about three and half months without my friends. At the beginning of the year, I was counting down the days until summer, and now I’m counting down the days until football starts again.
Thanks to all of my lovely fans for your amazing questions!!
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