Last week while out on campus with a few friends, I saw a particularly amusing sight. A parade of girls, dressed in slightly less than what I would personally constitute as an outfit, passed by looking a little dazed
and confused. As I contemplated whether or not these girls were actually lost, something, or rather someone caught my eye. A young boy ran past the crowd of girls screaming “THE FRESHMAN ARE BACK.” His face ecstatic with barely controlled glee.
This young man’s outburst brings across an interesting point. Is the excitement for the new freshman really still alive? Are freshmen really still ‘freshmen, fresh-meat?’ the newbies to pick apart and then forget about next year when they aren’t so “fresh” anymore?
Unfortunately I am sad to say that the answer is yes. As long as there are freshmen there will fresh-meat. As a freshman you are new and naïve, so those older students will see you as such. It’s an unavoidable truth. When you take those first big steps into college, you suddenly go from the biggest kid on the block to Bambi in a matter of seconds.
How to avoid such a fate, you ask? How do you escape being part of the meat locker? Well here it is folks. Get the advice while it’s hot.
1. Get to know your Campus. If you don’t want to look lost and confused, don’t be lost and confused.
One of the biggest giveaways of fresh-meat-dom is the little lost puppy face. That look that says, ‘hey world I am new and impressionable.’ Avoid this by taking a day or two to research a campus map. Get to know your area and you will be navigating it as well as the upperclassmen in no time.
2. Be smart when talking to strangers
Don’t talk to everyone who is willing to give you a smile and a wink. They know you are a freshman and unfortunately because of that you become easy to mess with. Realize who your friends are and be picky about the rest.
3. Be careful when going out
As a freshman this is your first time away from your parents and you, just as all freshmen before you, seethis as an excuse to go buck wild. Take a moment; realize that if everyone is incoherent, the chances of you making it home in one piece are slim. Take a buddy who will be sober with you, or just take your time on the drinks. The drinks will be here for the next four years, I can promise you that that keg specialty isn’t going anywhere
4. Take care of your friends
As the new ‘freshmen fresh-meat’ it is your duty to look out for one another. If you see a girl being a little too sloppy or a fellow classmate lost and confused; offer a helping hand, a shoulder to lean on, or an iPhone loan for the directionally challenged. You guys are a family now. Help each other.
Welp, ladies, all I can say now is that we have passed the baton to you. You are all the new ‘freshmen, fresh-meat,’ so you can now do what you want with that title. Be its victim or defeat it! :) Good luck!