Emma and Emily had high expectations of what life at RIT would be like as first year students. Read to see what they hoped would happen and next week read their thoughts looking back at these hopes halfway through the quarter!
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EMILY PRE-RIT:
HEY RIT! My name is Emily and in 8 days I will be a freshman! Wasn’t I having my bat mitzvah like 10 minutes ago? I am majoring in advertising photography and I just want to tell you some of my expectations before becoming a true collegiate™! I’ve been told by older, wiser people that you shouldn’t have expectations going into things but…hello!? It’s college. How many movies, books, and conversations are dedicated to emphasize how amazing college is?! Growing up on legally blonde obviously gave me some expectations. Here is the lowdown on what I expect college to be like. We shall soon find out if RIT lives up to my standards :)
1. ROOMMATES- Yeah I’ve had sleepovers, and I’ve been to summer camp. But that was only for 3 weeks, not a whole year! I chose my roommates in March, way before school even started. I even met them at accepted students day. We instantly clicked and we were totally comfortable with each other. I hope that we can just totally be there for each other. We are all in the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences and we all want to pledge a sorority, so hopefully during those really great times and even the really stressful times we can just be there for each other and honestly just have the best freshman year we can have.
2. CLASSES-Â I do not like the cold and I am a little scared that I will be six hours away from home, but I chose RIT for the photography program. I knew it was the best and I didn’t really care about any of the other factors. I expect from my classes that I will learn the skills that Annie Leibovitz, Alfred Stieglitz and Ansel Adams used to become famous photographers while creating connections with my professors that can help me after I graduate.
3. CAMPUS LIFE-GetInvolved: a phrase that everyone uses to advise to incoming freshman. In my high school, the jocks did sports, the art kids did art and the theatre kids did the musicals. Only the courageous went outside their assigned group and nobody ever really felt the need to branch out. That is definitely something I want to change in college. I want to redefine myself and not only hang out with the art kids. I want to be able to have a conversation with a computer science major and go get coffee with the captain of the club field hockey team. My religion is also really important to me. I am a proud Jewish-American and I would not trade my religion for anything. I hope to be incredibly involved in Hillel at RIT. I hope to meet other Jewish teens from University of Rochester and SUNY Geneseo and get more Jewish teens that attend RIT to be involved in Hillel. Essentially, I want to meet my husband in Hillel, or on my Birthright trip to Israel. Besides Hillel, my other main goal is to pledge a sorority. The girls in the sororities at RIT just seem so awesome. Not only are they all so welcoming, but they excel in their classes and have a great social life. Thanks Facebook for letting me stalk their muploads and Halloween photo albums! Greek life just seems like such a close knit community that I would absolutely love to be a part of.
4. BOYS- Ah. Saving the best one for last obviously. Coming to RIT from Cherry Hill, NY and meeting all of these boys from different walks of life is crazy! At RIT I hope to meet a really good group of girlfriends and then we meet a really good group of guy friends and magically they become our soul mates and were one happy group. We will be so close that in 15 years we will all be sitting around a coffee table sipping Pinot while our kids play hide and seek.Â
I will be checking back in with this in about a month, in the middle of my first quarter. I hope RIT blows my mind and is everything Iwant and then some. See ya later collegiate™!
–      Emily (ps follow me on twitter! -@eMP3playa)
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EMMA PRE-RIT:
As any typical incoming freshman would, I’m spending my remaining days at home visiting friends and hugging mom and dad every chance I get. But my head is running around in circles with questions about my future at RIT and if it’s going to live up to my expectations.
1. ROOMMATE-I’ve video chatted with my roommate a couple of times, something I believe will help, if not eliminate, the awkwardness of meeting in person for the first time. We are constantly in contact about our room and what each other want to purchase or split the cost which has made dorm shopping a dream. Solid communication has been the key for making me even more excited to move in. Expectation: smooth transition into sharing a small living space.
Living Arrangement. I was chosen to live in Photo House, a floor zoned off for members only. Being a member includes special access to photography labs on-floor. I expect to find a sense of family and a group of friends with a photographer’s eye to help critique my work whenever I need it, which is critical to an Advertising Photo major. Also a home away from home would really help distract me from the fact that I’m far away from my house in Houston, Texas, my two awesome pets and my parents. Expectation: home away from home and honest critiques from fellow photographers 24/7.
2. CAMPUS LIFE-While traveling form campus to campus I really paid attention to the different atmospheres.I toured some universities that were in cities and some that were in the middle of nowhere. Being on R.I.T.’s campus made me feel the most comfortable and secure. With that being said I hope the campus also offers many fun activities and clubs. I plan on rushing a sorority because being an only child and moving across the country has limited close relationships throughout my life, so a sisterly environment is very appealing to me. Expectation: very few dull moments and a sisterly bond through R.I.T.’s Greek life.
3. BOYS-What would college be without boys? Especially since R.I.T. has a male majority (65%), I’m looking to find not only a special someone but many guy friends that will be fun to hang out with after classes. Coming from Texas, especially Houston, I’ve met a wide variety of guys: good ol’ southerners to New Yorkers with attitudes. So, I’ve seen it all and heard it all. I’m hoping to find some decent guys that are genuine and not disappointed when you don’t just let anyone into your pants. Expectation: a solid foundation of guy friends and maybe a special someone.
Well, those are my freshman year standards in a nutshell. Talk to y’all in about 2 months! Please feel free to follow me on twitter, @ThatEmmaa!
Emma Siegel
Advertising Photography Major
RIT Class of 2015
Emily (R) and Emma (L)