The new faces, while familiar, don’t compare to our friends and family from back home. In short, budding college friendships might not resonate deeply at this point. Yet, it would be impossible to expect them to. 

I am tired of feeling uncomfortable where I live and missing everyone from home. But, most of all, it is so easy to feel like I am missing something everyone else has.

For freshmen who had attended classes remotely for their first semester of college, getting a first look at campus wasn’t something done in short sleeves and T-shirts, but rather under the many layers of clothing necessary for the bitter St. Louis conditions of mid-January.

In a time where we have all been asked to balance safety and socializing, perhaps no one has felt the strain of this task more than the University’s freshmen.

I have diagnosed myself with Fear of Doing Things, FODT. FODT is the unsexy cousin of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). She is almost as unappealing linguistically as she is in practice.

Many act like introversion is some sort of disease that needs to be cured, a massive character flaw that keeps you from being a full member of society. If you aren’t outgoing, it seems, it is simply because you’re lazy and rude for not loving to talk to everyone.

Before coming to Washington University, I couldn’t tell you how many times an adult came up to me and said, “College will be great; you’re just going to love it.” It was nice to have those words of encouragement, but after a while I started to feel like I was being burdened with a cliche of late-adolescent life. The “college is the best, therefore you must be happy or else” mantra has become so entirely prevalent in teenage culture. If you asked Wash. U. students what their take was on their first year, I think many would tell you that being at this place is incredible. But, as you may have seen on Yik Yak, Wash U Confessions or in the New York Times, there is an element of adversity that we all have to go through.

As the semester comes to a close, hundreds of Washington University women are completing their first semesters as members of the Greek community. Joining a sorority, though a common choice on campus, often brings with it unexpected elements. It seems that many women don’t know what to expect from their experience.

Several studies about roommate over the summer fount that interracial roommates can reduce students’ prejudices and broaden their friend circles.

I have spent the last 18 years of my life surrounded by cornfields, singing to farmhands about happy little blue birds and traversing the space to and beyond rainbows and other light-induced phenomena (I exaggerate, but only a bit). The song is over now and I find myself translated to an unfamiliar world with a new pair of shoes—they aren’t ruby, but I’ll get over it.