7 Things I Wish I Knew Before Freshman Year at Sewanee

I am about to go into my senior year at Sewanee, but I remember the pre-freshman year jitters like they were yesterday. I remember having so many questions that the pamphlets just didn’t answer, and I didn’t know anybody that went there well enough to ask them. So, my Mr. Miyagi gift to you, young grasshoppers, is a non-comprehensive (and unofficial) list of questions I was dying to ask before my freshman year at the greatest place on earth, aka The University of the South, and the answers I would give to pre-freshman me now. 

1. What do I pack?

• Clothes: Sewanee has a “class dress” policy, which essentially means you can’t look dumpy when you go to class. During the warmer months, most girls wear sundresses, skirts, nice pants or shorts (not jorts) and a cute top. You don’t have to go all-out, but just at least look like you tried. In terms of nightwear, this isn’t state school—to go out, most girls will just wear a cute top and shorts (jorts are acceptable), a cute dress or skirt/top, and cowboy booys or frat jacks (Jack Rogers).  For everything else, standard t-shirts and Norts will suffice. Pro tip: When packing up for move-in, it’s helpful to only pack warm-weather clothes, along with a few sweaters and long pants (it starts getting cool on the Mountain at night around September). Before you leave home, though, go ahead and set out all the fall/winter clothes you’ll need, and have your parents bring them to you when they come up for Parents’ Weekend in October, or get them when you go home for fall break later in October. This saves a lot of sacred closet space!
• Shoes: A couple pairs of Cowboy boots, rain boots, Chacos, Rainbows, Jack Rogers, a couple pairs of cute flats, one pair of nice-ish heels and one pair of nice-ish wedges (that you won’t mind getting frat sludge on).
• Misc: Ethernet cord (Sewanee wifi is notoriously unreliable right when you need it the most), mini-fridge, microwave, plastic storage drawers, Christmas lights and a few lamps (the fluorescent lighting in most dorm rooms is very unforgiving), a fan or two, shower caddy, nightstand, surge protectors, cleaning supplies, a decent-sized mirror, a first-aid kit, a mini tool kit, a sewing kit, dishware, and bedding.  Pro tip: Wait until you get up to Sewanee, meet your roommate(s), and see what kind of dorm you’re working with before you invest in a futon. Some students opt to stack their beds in order to make room for a futon, while some find it to be too cramped with one in there. If you get up there and decide you want a futon, take a quick trip to Wal-Mart in Winchester or South Pittsburgh!

2. What’s the deal with cell phone service?: The rumors are true: If you have Verizon, or anything other than AT&T, you’re in trouble. Verizon subscribers typically have more trouble than AT&T subscribers getting cell phone signal on top of the Mountain. Plus, AT&T just put in a tower on central campus a couple of years ago, so you can generally expect full bars on campus if you have service with them. Wi-fi is campus-wide, though, so even if you don’t have signal you can still iMessage and email anywhere you are. 

3. How much money will I need? Downside of going to school at Sewanee: the nearest mall is 45 minutes away in Chattanooga. Upside: that means you don’t have the temptation of retail therapy readily available. Budgets vary, but I’ve found I can generally limit myself to $400/month or less. That includes re-filling my gas tank twice a month, various toiletries, groceries, alcohol, t-shirts, a few meals out a week, and various other miscellaneous expenses.

4. So…there’s no shopping? Well, there isn’t a mall anywhere near Sewanee, but there are still places to spend money if you really want to. The only retailer nearby is Mountain Outfitters in Monteagle, which carries brand-name clothing like Mountain Hardware, North Face, Patagonia, Barbour, and Chaco (bonus: they offer a 10% student discount!) Other than that, most students buy their toiletries, groceries, and other not-so-necessary necessities at Piggly Wiggly, CVS, Fred’s, and Dollar General. When formals and party weekends roll around, many Sewanee girls order dresses online, like Lulu’s, NastyGal, and Asos.

5. What is the social scene like? Most parties go down at frat houses, and freshmen are always invited (all parties at Sewanee are open-door). Sorority and Fraternity rush is in January, which means freshmen have the entire first semester to get to know upperclassmen and get a feel for what sorority or fraternity they might want to pledge. This can cause a lot of freshmen girls anxiety, as they are obsessed with making “good impressions” or terrified of making a “mistake” and getting on a sorority girl’s bad side; however, you should know that Sewanee rush is really chill. In fact, we’re the only ones who should be worried about making good impressions! That’s the biggest thing that separates Sewanee sorority life from other schools—we want you as much as, if not more than, you want us, and we do anything and everything during first semester to impress you and try to get you to want to pledge us!

6. Is Sewanee a “party school”? The University obviously doesn’t condone underage drinking. However, let’s be real: we’re a bunch of college students, on top of a Mountain, in college, with nothing to do, and drinking happens. Most drinking happens on Thursday-Saturday nights, but parties sometimes happen on Tuesdays as well. There’s not really any pressure to drink, though—in fact, many students party completely sober and have just as much, if not more than, fun as those who drink. Sewanee has a FOG program, which consists of sober students who go to parties and make sure that everyone is safe, and intervene if they see somebody getting out of hand. Bacchus, a small heroic fleet of white vans with yellow lights on top, drives around campus on Friday and Saturday nights offering free rides anywhere on campus to students. Students are heavily discouraged from driving on the weekends, and DUIs are strictly not tolerated and punishable by suspension or expulsion, in addition to jail time. (Side note: drinking and driving doesn’t even need to happen in the first place, since you can walk from Point A to Point B anywhere in Sewanee in 15 minutes or less.) In terms of Fake I.D.s if you’re under 21, it’s really not worth it. If you’re caught with a fake in Sewanee or Monteagle, you can be written up, put on social probation, or worse. Since there aren’t any bars or clubs, much less bouncers, you don’t need an I.D. to get in anywhere. You can always bum alcohol off someone who is over 21 (again, not condoned, but let’s be real).

7. Oh yeah, what about academics? The term “work hard, play hard” probably applies to Sewanee more than anywhere else. Yes, Sewanee has a reputation as a “party school”, but we also have an even greater reputation as an academically rigorous University that has very high standards for its students. Class sizes are small and your Professors make it a point to know your name on the first day of class, which means missing class because you’re hungover or tired is not an option. Classes are usually challenging and require many hours of work per day, but there’s really not an excuse to do poorly in any class. Professors are very accessible, holding office hours multiple days a week, offering private meetings upon request usually at a moment’s notice, and providing an email address and phone numbers on the first day where they can always be reached to answer questions and provide further assistance. In addition, there are student tutors in most departments that offer free assistance every day of the week to help you with your homework and studying (I basically lived in the math and Spanish tutor rooms Monday-Thursday my freshman year!). Pro tip: One of the biggest regrets many upperclassmen have is that they didn’t try hard enough on their schoolwork freshman year. It can be easy to get caught up in the whole ‘college’ thing and forget that you’re actually there for the ‘school’ part, but trust me, you’ll regret that very quickly as you near senior year and start thinking about grad schools, internships, and jobs. As much as it’s hard to think long-term freshman year, the grades you make will follow you all the way to the end of senior year, so it’s imperative to not lose sight of this when you’re debating whether or not to go to that party or stay in and study.

Got any more questions that weren’t answered here? Submit them anonymously here! I’ll answer them daily as they come here! 

• freshman year