I have class in NYU's Silver Center for Arts and Science four days a week, and right now we are in the thick of Freshman Orientation plaguing the 9th floor. I use the 9th floor, well, I used to use the 9th floor to study or read in between classes since I have a break, but now it has been overrun with 17- and 18-year-olds brandishing registration forms at the UOLs (Undergraduate Orientation leaders) because they can't figure out how to fill them out on their own yet.
I love it. I think being a freshman was such a pivotal moment in my development into the person I am today. And I don't mean that in the sense that I am a complete person today, but rather that as of this moment, right now, when I am plotting out the rest of my night centered around the completion of my schoolwork and an early bedtime, being a freshman contributed so much.
You all know the story. Little gay boy moves to New York City, forgets he is there to get an education, spends too much time socializing, gets enormously depressed, continues socializing, doesn't let anyone know he is depressed, continues socializing, ultimately fails out of NYU. I've told this story approximately, uhm, a bajillion times on this blog because it constantly defines how I am doing now. So many things have changed since my freshman year of college. I failed out, lived at home again, worked, took easy-breezy-beautiful classes at Howard Community College, worked hard to get back to NYU, struggled again my first semester back, found what I actually wanted to study, started getting As again. It's an epic tale, really. Maybe one day I'll write a book. I hear that's a lucrative business.
But the inundation of the 9th floor with flailing freshmen brings back such strong memories of a time (only two years ago, mind you) before I really had to deal with anything heavy. I came out the other side a better person, though. I hope these kids (kids, ha!) prepare themselves for the transformation that comes along with moving to New York City. So many people say the move doesn't affect them, and they are liars. There is no way it could not affect a person. New York is unlike anything anyone who doesn't live here has ever experienced, and it changes you. It took me on a roller coaster ride that started at my Freshman Orientation, and I wish the best to these rugrats as they embark on what is sure to be a life-changing ride all their own.
5 comments:
As a Gallatin Orientation Leader, I've gotten to interact with the incoming freshmen and they seem phenomenal - so enthusiastic and eager to begin college. And I can't blame them. Sure, they have a vague idea of the huge transition that college (especially college in NYC) demands, but when it actually smacks them in the face, they'll understand. I guess it's interesting to see people who have so much to learn about NYU and NYC that we learned ourselves one way or another. And they're only a couple years younger than us. I'm excited for them to figure it all out - because they do (figure it all out), and they will.
Being driven out by the freshmen hordes isn't so bueno, but Spot the Freshmen is one of my favorite games at the beginning of the semester. They're an odd people -- overly dressed up for class and wandering aimlessly around campus.
hey now. watch it. i'm going to be a junior and i still dress up class. or for anything requiring me to leave the confines of my apartment, for that matter.
so spot on. nyc definitely changes a person, sometimes in ways you can't even fathom until you return home and it's like OH. hm that wasn't terribly eloquent but what can you do...just wanted to say i love this and i agree x 10.
i actually totes know what you're talking about and it is really weird to see people who think they have a preview of what the next 4 years of their lives will be like when they actually have no idea. and to think: i was you! not that long ago.
and now i'm not.
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