Freshmen and Seniors: How to Coexist Peacefully

Boston College is a campus full of kind souls. We’re always willing to hold open a door for a stranger, make conversation with BC’s workers, and volunteer like our lives depend on it. While we pride ourselves on our benevolent nature, there is one area in which we’re not always so kind: the senior-freshmen relationship. As BC does not have any recognized fraternities and sororities, this relationship is a close replacement of Greek life: who can get into mods, who comes with enough girls, who is dressed the best, who has been there longest and deserves the most privilege and respect. 

 

As a senior, I’ll be the first to admit that the moment I stepped on this campus in August, I began a 9-month long power trip. After three years of nerves regarding my admittance to the mods, lack of legality (and thus lack of alcohol), and general faulty self-confidence around upperclassmen, I have earned the right to this power trip. We all have.

 

 

While I believe that seniors have some entitlement to their cockiness, I also clearly remember my days as a silly little freshman. Sheepishly hoping to get into a mod, going to off-campus parties and entering the homes of people I’d never met, and trying to figure out BC as a whole. Freshmen are usually gentle creatures that need nurturing in order to become confident members of the BC community. For this reason, I don’t believe that seniors have a right to scream at a freshman to get the (expletive) out of their mod. How did you feel when a senior did that to you as a freshman? Not the best. Here are some ground rules for both freshmen and seniors at BC.

 

 

Rule 1. Don’t go to a mod where you or a member of your party knows no one who actually lives there. Would you want someone you didn’t know crashing your party, drinking your booze, and eating your pasta? I didn’t think so. I understand that BC lacks a bit in terms of the party scene, especially for freshmen, and this is why it’s important to get involved on campus in clubs and activities. This way, you can meet upperclassmen that might actually invite you to their parties. Simple.

 

Rule 2. Don’t act a fool if you get into a mod or off-campus party. Please try to keep it together. We know that this might be the first time you’ve ever really drank a lot and that you want to have fun and let loose, but please don’t let your puke loose in our living spaces. Act your age (and if you’re immature, try to act older); you’re an adult and should behave like one. Please make a minimal mess; your presence is probably annoying at least one tenant of the house as it already is. Do not give us a reason to kick you out.

 

Rule 3. Be nice to upperclassmen at parties. This kind of goes with Rule 2, but do not be rude if you can help it. Rudeness is a surefire way to be shown to the door.

 

Rule 4. Don’t wear your ID on a lanyard around your neck because that’s just dumb. I don’t care how convenient it is; do not do it. You’re labeling yourself as a freshman clown.

 

Rule 5. For freshmen girls: stop wearing bandage skirts and 4-inch heels to mod parties. There’s a time and place for both of those items, and a mod is not it. As soon as sophomore year hit, my friends and I retired our body-hugging skirts and too-high heels. Be comfortable yet cute; think jeans, leggings, or shorts with boots, flats, or sandals and a cute top. Jazz it up with a bit of jewelry. And just like that, you don’t look like you’re trying too hard.

 

Rule 6. For freshmen boys: you are not as cool as you think you are, so stop acting like it. Whoever let you into this party probably only admitted you because you rolled with a crew of 13 girls. Be happy that you’re at the party and don’t act like you’re better than anyone else there, because you’re not. Check yourself.

 

Rule 7. As a general rule, please remember than seniors have worked extremely hard for three years at BC, not only academically but also socially. We’ve put time and effort into people who have come to be our best friends. In our senior year, we want to be surrounded by the people who we love, not a bunch of randos. This is our last time to spend every waking moment of the day with our besties, laughing until we cry and sharing far too intimate details of our lives. Just let us be.

 

 

 

Rule 1. You don’t have to let the freshmen into your parties, but please be somewhat kind to them when they ask to be let in. Rather than yelling, ‘get the (expletive) out of my mod!’ or slamming the door in their face, ask if they know anyone there and if not, tell them that the party is only for people who you know and that you can’t let them in. Be sympathetic; you remember when you were a desperate freshman. It’s a tough time and getting a door slammed in your face doesn’t make matters better.

 

Rule 2. If a freshman is in your mod, make sure that they don’t become a hot mess. I know that it’s not your responsibility to babysit a freshman, but they don’t always know what they’re doing and could use a little help. If you see a freshman alone and/or sick, do something to help. 

 

Rule 3. Talk to the freshmen about how their time at BC has been so far. They’d probably like someone to talk and ask questions to. Give them a few pointers on how to not be an obnoxious freshman. 

 

Rule 4. Remind yourself of the fun times you had in the mods where you knew no one. Some of my fondest memories are of my friends and I at random mods. To the seniors who lived there, I apologize. But seriously, the best of times were had in the most random of living quarters.

 

 

With these rules, I hope that we can coexist at BC. Freshmen, we don’t hate you; we just hate you getting all up in our space. We expect respect from you underclassmen peasants; don’t roll up to our homes like you live there. And seniors, treat the little babies with respect. While they’re annoying at times, we all attend and love the same school. Every single one of us is here to enjoy all that BC has to offer, so let’s try to do that in harmony.

 

 

 

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