A new school year, a new feel on campus, and a HUGE new group of college neophytes. That’s right, the babies of the campus, those kids who wear their lanyards around their necks, the wonderful new and extremely lively class of 2017 has arrived!
DePauw’s freshman class this year is one for the books. 677 new students have embraced our Tiger lifestyle and jumped in with both feet to DePauw life. The biggest class DPU has seen in years, the freshmen have begun making their mark on DePauw already, and it’s only the third week of classes. But behind closed doors, were all wondering what are the freshmen of DePauw are really up to?
As an RA, I have personally gotten the chance to know and love many of our first years on campus. But besides that, I have had the unique opportunity to experience the newbies of campus in their natural habitat: the dorm. And let me tell you, it is quite a fun thing to do.
Dorm life continues to evolve with each new class as they move into the six different dorms on campus. The phenomenon that was “dorm golf” last year has turned into “dorm lacrosse”. Nerf gun wars were common last year, but now its hallway Frisbee and soccer. Watch out for flying objects in the halls! But, naturally, every floor has four or five rooms that love to bump their music as loudly as possible…at the same time. Which is great, especially when you walk down the hallway and visit every major genre of music possible between your room and the stairs to leave.
My observations and interactions with the fresh new class have shown me a few things that I’ve been extremely impressed with. They want to be involved. They want to get to know as many people as possible, and become close with those people. They genuinely care about the people they interact with. They LOVE to have fun. They’re really devoted to their schoolwork. But most importantly, they are not afraid to ask questions, or for advice.
These dynamic freshmen are definitely going to bring so much to DePauw’s table. If you get a chance to talk with one, or a group, try and make an impression on them because I promise they’ll leave an impression on you. I have no doubt in my mind that the year is going to be wonderfully entertaining with the class of 2017 involved, and I’ll love every moment of it.