We may only be halfway through the first semester of the new school year, but it hasn’t taken long for this freshman to pick up a few fundamental lessons and observations regarding the ins and outs of being a Tulane student. Two months may not seem like a substantial amount of time period to generate a plethora of fresh insight and collegiate knowledge, but two months in a college girl’s life can often feel like the equivalent of two years in a dog’s life (i.e., a long time). While I may be wearing many of the same jean-shorts and flip-flops ensembles as I was when I arrived here in late August (can I get a Hallelujah! for NOLA weather?), plenty has changed since that first week of college.
One change that I would have to gift with the most of my appreciation is the dissipation of awkward first-meetings and forced small-talk. Sure, I’m still meeting tons of new people every week, but these instances are no longer synonymous with lines like, “Where are you from?” and “What are you majoring in?” (I have doubts that “What dorm are you in?” will ever lose its relevance.) Finally, people seem to have settled into their routines and roles here at Tulane, and for the end of the first-week formalities that this entails, I’m confident everyone is very grateful.
I’m finding that 7,000 or so students is not as overwhelming as one might expect (although, this collegiate does hail from New York and Chicago); a good chunk of the sleep-deprived faces on campus have become ones that are familiar to me. The size of TU has proven to be one of it’s best traits: I am nowhere near acquainting myself with even a fraction of the student body, but I still feel as though I have established a presence here on campus, in a way that might be difficult for someone at a huge state university. That being said, there are moments — for (a totally random) example, Sunday mornings — when I’m sure some people would welcome the ability to tread the campus grounds with complete anonymity.
If you’re feelings crushed by all the new concepts and adjustments being forced your way, then know that you’re not alone. Every one of my friends that I have talked to has one area of college life that they’re especially struggling with — whether it be roommates, classes, the social scene, or homesickness. But I think the transition starts to feel natural for everyone at some point; it’s just that some of us will be tortoises, and others will be hares. So, on a scale of new road-to-pothole, how’s the overall transition been for your’s truly? Much smoother than my anxiety-susceptive imagination could have ever anticipated. Which is to say, very smooth indeed.
Stay tuned in the following weeks for updates on the aforementioned roommate, classes, and social scene scenarios that either plague or grace the college experience.
Roll Wave!