Being a freshman in college can be a scary experience. The way in which we learn, eat, sleep, and generally function is far different from that of our high school days. No one is there to tell us when or what to study, if it is OK to go out, or if it’s best to get some homework done. Freshmen are liberated from the rules of high school, with the entirety of the collegiate world in front of them. And where do freshmen have the most freedom? The social scene. How a freshman spends his or her time is completely up to him or her. And being that Penn State is such an enormous place with absurds amounts of people, the options we have here are seemingly endless. For the most part, this is awesome. But, in a way, this enormity can be quite overwhelming. This blog aims to document my journey finding a clear path in social chaos, and will relate those experiences to the virtues and (hopefully few) vices of this great university.

My first weekend at Penn State exemplified this. Wandering down Beaver and College Avenue one sees a common theme: freshmen. To be a freshmen is to be cursed. It’s almost as if freshmen are an infection which can only be cured through negligence. I just can’t figure out why freshmen are so repulsive. Specifically freshmen dudes. Walking through frat row, the streets are littered with groups of four or five guys looking to get into a party, myself and friends included. Naively, guys walk up to the front door, only to get laughed at and turned away. Again, myself included. But I was determined. Wandering past one frat, my friend spotted an open window. And before I knew it, I was doing a somersault into a frat party.  I don’t know what my desire to get into a party says about the college social life, but it’s probably not a good thing.  I’m not sure if I had many other options. I could hang out with different organizations. But the constant fluttering of emails for different clubs is so overwhelming that I just ignore all of them. Sort of like how freshmen are ignored. So by not being occupied by clubs, breaking into a frat party was my best bet. Worth it? Absolutely.

The favoritism towards girls is kind of disturbing. Guys let girls into parties for obvious reasons. Hook-up culture is alive and well on Penn State’s campus, and I’m not saying this is an awful thing. Kids will be kids. “Experimentation” and all that. But the problem is that hook-up culture can create impersonal relationships in which no one cares who the other person is. I think this can evolve to rape-culture. When sex is so impersonalized that everyone thinks that everyone consents. I don’t think it needs to be explained that that is not true.

As a sidebar, I do not condone nor participate in underage drinking. Although it does happen. Anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves.