With another incarnation of Bear Beginnings said and done, the new members of the Washington University community can now confidently strut around campus educated on our school’s policies, but maybe not ready for the day-to-day struggles of college life. “Our Names, Our Stories” tells of our various identities, “The Date” of sexual assault and violence, and “Bearings” of…well, not much.

This fall, the oft-referenced “Choices” will be replaced by “Bearings,” a much shorter video that addresses similar issues, in an effort that the First Year Center hopes will reduce overlap with other orientation events.

While the FYC has good intentions of providing freshmen with a memorable and educational orientation experience, freshmen tend to be overwhelmed and exhausted at the end of Bear Beginnings, and there isn’t enough time to recover for the first day of classes.

I gave the question of “why do we drink alcohol, given all of its negative consequences” some thought, and realized that it was a matter of framing: It’s very easy to paint an undesirable picture of many things that we, as humans, find fun. It’s especially easy when the person painting the picture doesn’t enjoy those things the way others do.