Intro Week

I know most Universities have an introductory week of one kind or another, but ours must be one of the best. I've heard that in the past it tended to degenerate into a drunken orgy, but what has happened is that the university has taken control of it and chosen some students from other years to run it. However it was organized, it was enormous fun and certainly helped with one of the things I'd been worried about: getting to know other people in such an enormous place as this.

I came from a rather small school quite a way away, and I'd never been away like this before. Maybe for a few days, but always with relatives or friends I knew well. I've never had much trouble getting along with people, but there was only one person from my school here, not one of my particular friends, and one who lives quite far from me anyway -- this campus is enormous. Having seen the place in the spring, and knowing how big everything was, I was intimidated and overwhelmed. It was the Fear Factor Big Time.

Well, that week changed all that, at least as far as my social life was concerned. Some of the "initiation" type activities seemed a bit silly, and I was tempted to sneak away so as not to have to participate. Some people did that, but for me at least it would have been a big mistake. We were organized into small teams, and the activities were just hard enough (and humiliating enough!) to make us bond together instantly, so that by the end of the time, we seemed just as close as if we'd have known each other all our lives. Combine that with working with or against all the other teams and groups, and there's a big new family of about 400 people to exchange smiles and laughter with whenever we meet all over the campus. Fear, Intimidation: Gone! And my friends from home seem a long way in the past now, as well as a long way off. I know that many will have gone through the same kind of experiences I have, but I haven't been home yet so I can't tell.

So my advice: if it's properly organized, bite the bullet (in fact all the bullets), forget your dignity, and participate in everything.