Cherish your freshman year memories

I have a lot of free time at my co-op job. The other day when things were a little slow, I got to thinking, and it hit me how much my life has changed since I arrived here at Tech in the fall of 2001.

I arrived not knowing anyone, a bit apprehensive about my ability to branch out socially and far too confident in my academic ability.

I also had lot of free time. Most of this time was spent on the computer, chatting with my friends back home, reminiscing about senior year and talking about what we were going to do next time I was home.

Boy, how things change. I now go into my (advanced Mechanical Engineering) classes just hoping for a C. HOPE, both literally (tuition money) and figuratively (making a good grade) is gone.

My social apprehension has mellowed considerably. My mom no longer calls me every seven days to ask me when I ' m coming home. Last time I was home, she even referred to Tech as my " home " - " You don ' t leave all of the cabinets open like that at home do you? " " Umm...yeah. "

My life is also a lot more " grown up " than it used to be. I work 40 hours a week, commute roughly 10 hours and work for the newspaper roughly 10 hours. During the week, every second of my day is allotted for. This is in stark contrast to freshman year when the considerable time not spent in class was spent on the computer, at the SAC or enjoying the antics of some of the guys on my hall.

I wouldn ' t have guessed it at the time, but I now look back on those days with fond memories.

Anyone who lived on the second floor of Fitten hall in the ' 01- ' 02 school year can attest to the absolute pandemonium that went on that year. Guys would run out into the halls wearing only their boxers and start throwing Frisbees at each other until their backs were almost purple with welts.

My friend Jason snapped one night and crushed a 2 ' tall plastic fan out in the hall with a metal baseball bat. He didn ' t just break it, he smashed it into a thousand pieces. He blames it on the chemistry homework. I just think the guy is crazy. Moments like that made freshman year fun.

Another notable memory from freshman year was learning to branch out socially. I can recall awkward outings in which five or six people huddled together into a little subcompact car and went to the mall for an evening. The car would belong to a friend who lived in Atlanta - the rest of us didn ' t have a car here.

You didn ' t know at least four people in the group - they were just friends of a friend you met in class. You probably didn ' t like some of them. Even the ones you did like you eventually lost contact with.

Looking back, those times seem a little strange, but I would do it again if I had the chance.

Then there was that girl. Yes, her. You know, the one in the dorm right next to yours, the one you actually thought you had a chance with until you found out she had a half dozen other guys after her, too?

Ah yes, the elusive, yet wildly popular " beautiful Tech girl " . For normal guys, these girls were, and still are very much lost causes. She currently has over 200 friends on Facebook and 80 percent of them are male. Guys, take a hint, it won ' t happen.

Then there was the SAC. Not the CRC, SAC. This recreation center was obviously designed with weights and aerobic machines as an afterthought - for they were both upstairs and had a low ceiling.

Simple physics will tell you that having a weight room " upstairs " in any building is a bad idea. This, the fact that the weight room was about one fourth of the size it needed to be, and had a 10 foot ceiling made the place hold body heat like a wetsuit. In retrospect, I can ' t say that I miss the old SAC.

Though the CRC isn ' t going anywhere anytime soon, it ' s a safe bet that your life here will not be the same in a few years.

You ' ll lose some friends. You ' ll make some friends. You ' ll grow up. Your life will only get more busy - trust me. Some of you will eventually wind up calling this place " home. "

Whatever you ' re doing right now, enjoy it, because these are tomorrow ' s fond memories.