University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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i Species: Freshman Life Expectancy: Nine Months It ' s easy to describe the life of a freshman. I should know. I am one. I was introduced to college at summer orientation, but things became real in a weekend in August. Here you are, trying to move 1 8 years of memories and necessities for the next nine months into your half of a dorm room. Thousands of others were trying to do the same. Before school started, there was Country Club Week, The week to get acquainted with the campus and the new life. The week to swim, to party and to meet a lot of people. Oh, and the week to become a bit homesick. Enrollment, with its long lines, officially made me a student at the University of Kansas. I even went to the bookstore and bought KU sta- tionery. Life then became a series of firsts. The first day of class, and what a first that was. Luckily, my first class was freshman English. Misery loves company, though. I was surrounded by 1 7 blanched, panic-stricken faces. I lived through my first day, only to be confronted with my second and my first lecture class. Never before had I been in a learning situation with 149 others. During the weeks that followed, I had my first all- nighter and my first day after. The all-nighter was an education in itself. I learned how to make coffee and how to take Vivarin. The next day, natur- ally, consisted of my first day-after-crash. Most of the freshman ' s life doesn ' t revolve around academics, though. Sure, we attend classes and go to the library and study, but because we ' re not used to life away from home, the majority of our education focuses on just plain life. Well, I won ' t ever be a freshman again, but I don ' t think I ' ll ever be too smart to stop learning about life. 26

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Coping With the Heat It ' s the last week of August and the first week of school, and it ' s hot. Under- lying the pressures of enroll- ment, new roommates and getting reaccustomed to the routine of studying are the additional problems of body odor, dripping foreheads and sticky backs. The major question asked was not, Where can I find 1 26 Strong ? but, How am I going to cope with this goddamn heat? Well, students did find answers and did cope with the 90 degree temperatures. They applied their own remedies, some ingenious and some just down right convenient. Swimming pools helped. Most apartments ' pools were opened until Labor Day. After Labor Day? Well, that distant friend of a friend who just happened to live at Naismith Hall all of a sudden became a favorite buddy. And for those who were less inhibited, a cool skinny dip in a secluded cove of Lone Star or Lake Perry was the answer. Two male students added innertubesand chilled cans of Coors to this scene. Each leaned back with beer in hand, oblivious to the toasted world. When it ' s hot, beer hits the spot, ' ' was a sentiment expressed by most students. Bars were packed during the first few weeks of school. Whether this was entirely a result of the temperature is doubtful, but no one would disagree that after a couple of pitchers, heat is the fur- thest thing from the mind. The ultimate prevention from heat stroke, however, was an air conditioner. When lying on the sofa, clad in jean shorts and a loose-fitting T-shirt, there ' s not a worry in the world . . . until the end of the month . . . when the bill comes. But that ' s coping with more than heat. That ' s coping with sweat. 27