Freshmen fight to fit
Kat Timpf
Issue date: 9/6/07 Section: News
Alicia LeDuc walked nervously into the McIntyre Hall lower west corridor, her home for the beginning of her college career. The 5-foot-2-inch freshman felt smaller than ever as she realized everyone in her hallway towered half a foot above her.
Hillsdale College welcomed 365 freshmen to campus this semester. These students are adapting to the challenges of a more difficult academic environment, the quirks of dorm life and a social environment teeming with new friends.
"Since those first few days I have had more theological, philosophical and sociological arguments than I could have hoped to have had my entire life before now, and my roommate and I have combined to join about 10 clubs - not sure how we are going to keep our sanity in the coming weeks," freshman James Skinner said.
Keeping that sanity is especially difficult when coupled with the demeanor of dorm life, some say. Skinner was shocked the first time he saw his hallmate running naked though the hall pouring cold water on people while singing "Jingle Bells" and "Home on the Range."
Freshmen John Klingner laughed and described running in his underwear from Galloway Hall to the Pi Beta Phi sorority house during one of his first nights on campus. His hallmates sang "You are My Sunshine."
To ease the mania of dorm life, freshmen take refuge in meeting others experiencing similar culture shock.
Freshman Will Cooney shared his technique for attracting companions: leave the door open.
But he admits this approach created an uncomfortable experience when he came out of the shower one day only to find a stranger smiling at him from his chair.
Cooney also had an eerie experience trying to do laundry. He entered the Simpson Hall basement armed with quarters and ready to tackle three loads of wash, only to have the coin-munching machines gave him a run for that money.
"I got one load done in three hours. Every time I go in to try, dryers steal my money or people are standing around waiting for buzzers to go off. It's like the mafia," Cooney said.
Despite difficulties, freshman Kirsten Adams beamed as she talked about her first weeks at Hillsdale.
"I was afraid I would be shunned, but I love it here. I'm not homesick at all-I could live here forever," Adams said.
Others, like Klingner, aren't thinking more in terms of four years, but of forever.
"[The guys in Simpson] are really friendly. [Everyone says college is] where I'm going to make friends that last a lifetime," he said, clutching the straps of his backpack. "I haven't really made any lifetime friends yet, but it's only the first few weeks. I have four years."
Hillsdale College welcomed 365 freshmen to campus this semester. These students are adapting to the challenges of a more difficult academic environment, the quirks of dorm life and a social environment teeming with new friends.
"Since those first few days I have had more theological, philosophical and sociological arguments than I could have hoped to have had my entire life before now, and my roommate and I have combined to join about 10 clubs - not sure how we are going to keep our sanity in the coming weeks," freshman James Skinner said.
Keeping that sanity is especially difficult when coupled with the demeanor of dorm life, some say. Skinner was shocked the first time he saw his hallmate running naked though the hall pouring cold water on people while singing "Jingle Bells" and "Home on the Range."
Freshmen John Klingner laughed and described running in his underwear from Galloway Hall to the Pi Beta Phi sorority house during one of his first nights on campus. His hallmates sang "You are My Sunshine."
To ease the mania of dorm life, freshmen take refuge in meeting others experiencing similar culture shock.
Freshman Will Cooney shared his technique for attracting companions: leave the door open.
But he admits this approach created an uncomfortable experience when he came out of the shower one day only to find a stranger smiling at him from his chair.
Cooney also had an eerie experience trying to do laundry. He entered the Simpson Hall basement armed with quarters and ready to tackle three loads of wash, only to have the coin-munching machines gave him a run for that money.
"I got one load done in three hours. Every time I go in to try, dryers steal my money or people are standing around waiting for buzzers to go off. It's like the mafia," Cooney said.
Despite difficulties, freshman Kirsten Adams beamed as she talked about her first weeks at Hillsdale.
"I was afraid I would be shunned, but I love it here. I'm not homesick at all-I could live here forever," Adams said.
Others, like Klingner, aren't thinking more in terms of four years, but of forever.
"[The guys in Simpson] are really friendly. [Everyone says college is] where I'm going to make friends that last a lifetime," he said, clutching the straps of his backpack. "I haven't really made any lifetime friends yet, but it's only the first few weeks. I have four years."
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