So, summer is over, we’re back in Ithaca, it’s already Ithacating…what better time to start knocking off some items on the list of 161 Things Every Cornellian Should Do?
Given all of the O-week funtivities, it is only appropriate to address both #100 and #101: walk to a fraternity party with your entire freshman floor, and go to; a fraternity party as a senior; convince yourself you were never one of them.
Let’s be real for a second: unless you were sitting in your room getting a head start on reading for the coming semester, every single upperclassman has completed #100. We have all stampeded into Collegetown in a manner mildly reminiscent of that scene in Beauty and the Beast where the townspeople attack the enchanted castle.
And just like the Beast and his enchanted objects fend off the very self-impressed Gaston (spoiler), the upperclassmen certainly alert the newbies that Collegetown is “our turf.” It’s not that we don’t like freshman — I think the heckling just stems from #101: Go to a fraternity party as a senior; convince yourself you were never one of them.
Freshman, as a friend of mine recently tweeted, “Your ID card still works even if it’s not hanging around your neck.” We all did it at the beginning; similar to the fanny pack, the ID card around the neck is hella convenient. However, just as the fanny pack is reserved for tourists at Disney and Slope Day, the ID card around the neck should be reserved for the working world when you need to show that you’re legit not at a party in Collegetown – we all trust that you are indeed a matriculating student at Cornell.
And it’s not just the ID card. When you walk into a party with 50 of your new best friends, you kind of draw attention to yourself. Who woulda thunk it?! And once again, it’s not that we’ve never done it before. We’ve all walked into parties feeling like P. Diddy with our posse, trust me. But just as we all look back on middle school/high school days and say to ourselves, “Good god, what was I thinking?,” so too, we see you, dear Freshman, and say, oh my lord, that was never me, I was so much cooler. Well, we weren’t, but who is going to challenge that when we have a whole new crop to heckle?
So, Freshman, enjoy your first year and take advantage of everything here…and start completing things on the Big Red Ambition List (I’d be in struggle city if I had to do all 161 this year). And, dear readers (hi mom and dad!), get excited because my roommates, myself, and little miss JF (there’s your shout out), are on a mission to complete the 161 list, more fondly known to us as “Senior Year Bucket List.” Get pumped – I know I am.
Original Author: Jaime Freilich