Hang up the high school letterman jacket and put down the lanyard, class of 2018, you are now college students.
Hang up the high school letterman jacket and put down the lanyard, class of 2018, you are now college students.
With every generation of incoming freshmen, there are habits that are hard to let go from the high school days. These habits are what take the word ‘freshman’ from being a simple word to being a title.
Among these habits is walking around with a posse.
“One of the biggest things is when they travel in huge packs,” said Alison Thornton, a senior studying global studies and sociology. “And they just take up the entire sidewalk. Especially when upperclassmen are trying to walk around faster than a snail’s pace. I understand why they do it though; everything’s new to them but that’s just one thing when you see it’s like ‘Oh there’s a group of freshmen.’ ”
Agreeing with Thorton, Kaitlyn Wolford said packs are what make freshmen stand out. But Wolford also said there are different characteristics be- tween freshmen commuters and on-campus freshmen.
“The commuter freshmen tend to stick out more because they look lost; they have that bug-eyed look like ‘I don’t know where I’m going,’” said Wolford a junior studying nursing. “If they’re on campus, they cling to each other a little bit more to try to figure everything out together.”
Besides sticking together, some of the accessories that freshmen choose to wear are also what helps them stand out of the crowd.
“I’ve seen a lot of people, where I work at CVS, come in and ask for lanyards.” Wolford said.
Upperclassmen know how to spot freshmen because they were once freshmen and did the same thing. Upperclassmen look back on when they were freshmen and some cringe because they know that some of the things that they’ve done are what make freshmen stick out.
“I transferred here my freshman year during the spring semester and I was one of the creepy commuter freshmen,” she said. “So, I wish that I would have lived on campus because I would have made friends and the connections better than what I did because I was a loser my freshman year.”
Besides wishing to have worn something different or not walking around in groups, one upperclassmen said she wishes that she had confidence as a freshman.
“I wish that I had more confidence,” said Nicole Dailey a junior studying psychology and anthropology. “I was so unsure of everything I was doing because I wanted to fit in a lot and I didn’t want to give it away that I was a freshman, even though no one really cared.”
Confidence is key to enjoy your time at Ohio University, Dailey added.
Thornton and Wolford both agree that it doesn’t matter because it’s part of the college experience and everyone’s been through it.
“I think for the most part everyone’s really friendly so it doesn’t really matter,” Thorton said. “I haven’t seen any upperclassmen bully anyone just because they were freshmen. It doesn’t really matter, everyone here is re- ally nice here and everyone serves their time as a freshman.”
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