Temple Tips

The first weeks of school are in full swing.

Campus is packed more than an Anderson elevator and the new faces outnumber the old.

Where did everyone go?

I feel like I only know five people anymore.

OK, so maybe I’ve just been here too long and my friends have all graduated, but the freshman class is bigger than ever this year.

Don’t worry, you can still tell fresh-meat from upperclassmen though.

The students that actually go to all the activities at the Bell Tower, decked out in their Temple gear, with the infamous key chains around their necks: a few glaring signs of a newcomer.

Whether we like to admit it or not, we were all there at one point.

One time, four score and seven semesters ago, I was also a freshman, key chain and all.

It’s funny to look back now and see how things have changed.

So of course to start this school year off right, I’ve compiled a list of things us non-freshman used to do back in the olden days.

Besides walking to school barefoot in the snow, up hill both ways, here are stupid quirks that as a freshman seemed so important … but in really weren’t.

Then: A book bag packed with five fresh notebooks with new BIC pens in each pocket, ready to take notes on the first day.

Now: Somehow we scrounge up an old notebook from the previous semester, find a random pen lying around, check if it works and then head to class for what is known as “syllabus week.”

Then: Have an outfit laid out (matching of course) pressed and ready to go for the big first day.

Now: Wake up ten minutes before class, slip on some sandals and roll out the door, making it to class just in time to catch the lecture.

Then Wake up early enough to have a wholesome breakfast at the Caf’ before starting your day.

Now: Grab a Pop-Tart (r) on the way out or stop by the bagel hut for an eye opener.

Then: Still on a high school schedule, you wonder what to do with the extra six hours a day that aren’t consumed by classes.

Now: Plan your schedule so that you have ample time to slip in a nap and make sure there are limited classes planned for your Fridays.

Then: Buy your books before school even starts, excited to dive into the new college material.

Now: Hopefully have enough money to buy books for at least one class during the first week.

Then eventually buy books as the enormous lines die down in the bookstore.

Then: Walk the campus in a Temple shirt, hat, socks, sweatpants, sweatshirt, and of course the Temple bottle opener is always a favorite.

Now: We all go to Temple and we know that by now, so we don’t need the gear to prove it.

So as a tip, just be a freshman.

Every goes through it in order to learn and laugh about it later.

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Juli Crist can be reached at Copshoo98@yahoo.com