How NOT to look new on campus

1. Sometimes it is okay to leave home without your campus map. You might get lost, but you’ll see something new along the way. Chances are that you aren’t venturing too far from home, and if you are it won’t be that hard to find someone with a computer or smart phone to point you in the right direction.

2. Yes, free stuff is great. All of that orientation swag stuff you picked up the first week of class, though, can be left at home. If you’re trying to look like a freshman, there is no easier way than to wear that red cinch sack as you walk from Wright Food Court to Wells Library.

3. Also in that bag of goodies was a lanyard. Don’t use it. Don’t use any lanyard. While displaying your car keys on your chest may have been a status symbol in high school, the same is not the case for your dorm room key in college.   

4. Trying to become Facebook famous is not a way to seem older to your peers. Letting someone in a lecture borrow your pen is not an invitation for you to take out your phone and send them a friend request. Take it easy. College is an opportune time to meet plenty of new people, not just their profile pictures.

5. It’s true that you are here primarily for school, but Bloomington has so much more to offer. Going home every weekend is a surefire way to isolate yourself. This is a new experience for many people around you as well. Bond over that and you will find yourself making lifelong friends.

6.  Don’t ask to go to the bathroom in class. Just go.

7. Class rings are great ways to remember your high school years, but not the best way to look like a grown up. Stash it away for a few years and bring it back out sometime after college. Your letter jacket and all of those T-shirts from high school with “Class of 2013” can be boxed up as well.

8. Since you have decided not to go home every weekend, you’ll need to be able to do your own laundry. Next time your mom calls to nag, ask her for some pointers. She will be shocked, but you’ll be much happier than if you had washed all your white tees with one red one in the mix. Nobody wants to be the guy in the pink shirt.

9. Wearing candy stripe pants at the beginning of your freshman year is the equivalent of talking about having children on a first date. Tone it down a little bit. Save the pants for game day. A little school spirit doesn’t hurt, but don’t go over the top.