Welcome Freshmen!

The Editorial Board wants to welcome you to IU! You’re about to begin the greatest, most rewarding and most hectic four years of your life. New friends will replace old ones, you’ll become intimately familiar with the Village Pantry’s graveyard shift and you’ll learn to despise “blue book” finals. Some of you will be rooming with your best friend from high school (good luck); others of you will be moving in with someone you’ve never met and praying you aren’t paired with the weird kid (even better luck). \nTake it from us – things can get a little overwhelming if it’s your first time in Bloomington. Even for a small town, life moves pretty fast here. We know there will be a lot to deal with, so we’re offering our humble advice to ease the transition into college life.\nFood: Eat when you can, because sometimes you won’t know where your next meal will come from. Hands down, Mother Bear’s has the best pizza in town, but watch for specials and coupons, because the best is rarely cheap. Also, use your meal points (or find a starving senior to help you) instead of going out all the time, because if you can get past the initial discoloration of dorm food, you’ll save a lot of money. There are a lot of choices in Bloomington, so if you’re ever in doubt, go local – avoid corporate restaurants like the plague. \nDrinking: You may think you can show up, have a beer or two, and still get that 15-page paper done before your 8:00 a.m. class, but trust us – you can’t. Not unless you already have 14 pages written. Don’t think you have to go to every kegger. There will always be a bigger, better party. \nClubs: Join them. IU has more intramural sports and extracurricular activities than you could possibly imagine (including this newspaper), and dozens more are added every year. You have everything from intramural basketball to basket weaving at your finger tips, so find one (or 10) you like, because you never know where and when you’ll fall in love.\nDorm life: If you don’t have a car, make friends with someone that does (kidding – this isn’t PCU). Learn the bus schedules early. They’ll be your best friend when you have that early morning math class across campus. Also, when using the washers and dryers, never, ever leave your clothes unattended for an extended period of time. There are barely enough machines for an entire building, so plan to return well before the timer is done or your clothes will either A) be sitting on a table soaking wet or B) disappear.\nClasses: When picking your classes, try to balance hard classes with easy ones. Even if you fill up just one class with a HPER elective, you’ll be better off. Frisbee Aerodynamics, Thermonuclear Pottery, Biological Computational Methods, and Playstation 3 in the Digital Age might sound like a fun schedule until midterms roll around.\nThere’s simply not enough time to tell you everything, but then again, the excitement is in the mystery. Welcome again, and best of luck this fall!