Best and Worst of Freshman Year at UTK

Here at UT, another school year is about to come to a close. Being freshmen, we have experienced a lot of new things, both positive and negative (but mostly positive!). We want to take a moment and reflect on the best and worst things at UTK for our freshman year.
 

Negatives:
 
Dorms
To be honest with you, the dorms themselves are about what we expected. They are small and not especially warm and cozy. But, the aspect of dorm life we really did not like was the curfew. There are quiet hours from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m., and members of the opposite sex had to be out of your room by 1 a.m. on weekdays. Dorms aren’t all bad, but we’re looking forward to having an apartment so we can hang out with our guys at all hours.
 
No-Good Guys
Let’s just say we met quite a few. There are a lot of sweet, genuinely great guys at UT. However, there are also a lot of players. Can we just warn you that if a guy is asking you to hang out only to tell you that he had just been out with another girl, he’s probably not one of those sweet ones. And all those fellas that assume you’re down to “hook up” without any sort of courting, they can think again. Keep your eyes out for the good ones, ladies. Don’t waste your time or energy on the jerks.
 
Positives:
 

Parties
UT is known to be a party school, and we sure do live up to it. Whether it be a house party, club, or library rave, you can always expect to have a great weekend here. Halloween is an especially crazy time in Knoxville. We will never forget watching a guy in a bikini get taken away in cuffs Halloween night. That never happened in high school! We are definitely looking forward to UTK partying sophomore style!
 
Sports
Whether you play or watch, sports are one of the most popular things at UT.  During football season, Knoxville is filled with orange and white. Tailgating is a great way to kick off game day.  Intramural sports are also an easy and fun way to stay active. We both joined intramural teams for softball and soccer this year, and we had a great time!
 
People
Welcome week is a great time to meet new people at UT. Everyone is friendly and no one has made a permanent “hang out” group yet, so it is really easy to talk to people. This was also a great time for us to learn about different clubs and organizations UT had to offer. We also had the privilege of meeting and getting to know a lot of the foreign exchange students at UT. Bailey even dated one! It was a great opportunity to learn about where they came from and show them our American pride.