Once, we were those people who gathered in the dining hall for daily dinners with friends, still unsure how to maneuver around, struggling to balance a tray with multiple plates, bowls, and cups — all while finding a table for our roommate, our friend down the hall, her boyfriend…and her boyfriend’s roommate’s friend.
We all know a freshman when we see one. Here’s how to spot the signs:
1.) You wear your Husky-paw-printed lanyard around your neck at all hours of the day. Just in case you forget who you are or where you go to school, you better continue to wear that bright red lanyard with your Husky ID attached to it. You never know when someone might ask for your name and picture. You wouldn’t want to be confused with a BU Terrier.
2.) You travel in packs of 30. Not with 30-racks (you wish), but with 30 friends to impress that group of people passing by with only 28. Soon you will learn: You benefit by traveling with only a select group of people. Choose wisely.
3.) You are in BHOP from midnight until close on Friday and Saturday nights. So the MIT party was a bust and the 10 guys you brought to the BGE frat on Comm. Ave. got your entire group rejected. Might as well end the night on a positive note, eating pizza by the slice with every other freshman at the Boston House of Pizza. (http://www.bhop-online.com/)
4.) You ignore the stir-fry number system in Stetson West. 28? 1? 7? What does that even mean? It’s already November, but you might as well continue to stand in between the line and counter – and every person trying to maneuver around you – and wait for your plate. But, really, please don’t. Grab something else to eat while you wait.
5.) You go to the dining hall at least three times every day. Each week, Northeastern forces you to pay for 15 meals, so why not use every swipe? If you had to skip yesterday’s lunch to study for that imminent test in the afternoon, we’ll probably see you – and your five “Go green” bags – at Outtakes (http://www.nudining.com/outtakes) Friday afternoon scouring the aisle to fulfill those eight points.
6.) You stop walking in the middle of the sidewalk during the change of classes. Hundreds of other students are trying to make it from one end of campus to the other for their next class, too. Freshmen create unecessary roadblocks when they stop in the middle of the walkway just to say hello to their new friends. Pull over to the side or wait until your dining hall dinner date. The key is to keep the flow of foot traffic moving.
7.) You wear shirts from senior year of high school. Sorry to break it to you, but you’re in college now. Gone are the days of league champions and 2011 senior class pride. So, lose the matching T-shirt/sweatpants combo that flaunts your high school mascot. Grab a free T-shirt the next time you walk by a quad and show your Husky appreciation.
Photo courtesy of Northeastern University, Boston House of Pizza, Chartwells