I am not exactly aware of what occurs during the summer
break, but the distinct difference every year at Tech is hard to ignore.
Freshmen are easy to pick out of a crowd. They are either
failing miserably at attempting to not look lost, or they are walking around
like they own the place. This is their school and they have arrived.
Freshmen have the most fun. How can they not? Classes are
not too difficult, organizations view them as potential new members, and they
meet an average of 15 people a day. It is their first taste of independence,
and it is taken advantage of, as it should be.
Unless, of course, the freshmen deny
The world of freshmen is not solely defined by number of
credit hours. We all know a handful of would-be seniors whose crazy stories
hardly compete with a rookie freshman’s. These super seniors are the favorites
of friends, but you do have to wonder: how old are you?
Then there are the sophomores. They know people by now
and have somewhat of an identity at Tech. The freshmen have taken away the
limelight, and the sophomores are usually the ones to adopt them and show them
the ways of the university.
The ways can be defined as understanding that there is no
such thing as a quick trip to Wal-Mart, lunch is to be had in the
Junior year marks the first year of being an
upperclassman. You now have figured out Briley and
The 300 and 400 level classes provide sufficient
reasoning why upperclassmen tend to fade away from campus.
Fraternity punch has been replaced with coffee from
Frothy Monkey.
Another popular way to spend your junior year at Tech is
to get engaged. Where else are you going to meet “the one?”
This contributes to talk of the “grandma syndrome.” You
know it has happened to you when your vehicle is more likely to be parked at
your apartment than at the first football game.
Junior year also serves as an indication that the real
world will be your life in less than two years.
This epiphany becomes the theme of senior year. The
future has become a date on a calendar, not just an appropriate conversation on
a third date.
Graduation is met with either a “finally!” or an “already?”
attitude.
Either way, graduation does come, and it ends the era of
the college years.
Before we know it, we will be just another name on the
alumni mailing list.
So enjoy these four (or more) years of your life.
When else will you be able to drop anatomy for a second
chance next quarter?
Melissa Walker is a junior journalism major from Baton
Rouge and serves as news editor for The
Tech Talk. E-mail comments to mew018@latech.edu.