Brown University - Liber Brunensis Yearbook (Providence, RI)

Page 8 text:

nUJUDLII IS There are easier things in the world than being a freshman at Brown Uni- versity. Despite the laborious efforts Brown makes to ease the transition to college life, the differences, between life in high school and life at Brown are so huge that freshman week' is given not as an adjustment period, but as a compensatory apology for what is to follow. The first thing that most freshman notice is how late they are being pres- sured into going to bed. Although mid- night is often quite late to stay up during the week, only wimps and sen- iors have the good sense to retire this early. Freshmen become night owls by social proxy. Similarly, freshman have to go through the rigorous job of doing tons of work without seeming overly wor- 1V DJIVJVYVyvvYill ried or concerned about it. This play - acting occupies time that could be spent on more productive activities, like sleeping. Then, of course, there are the firsts the first beer, the first joint, the first romance all de- signed to fill the freshman with an in- credible sense of wonder: How could all of this be happening to me? Or, alternately, 'What did I do to deserve this? One reason things are so tough for freshmen is that the idea of 'choice' arises for the first time. The choice between booze and books, or between academics and antics, is very real and genuine: there are no nagging parents, or switch - yielding headmasters to prod the freshman into doing his work. This decision-

Page 7 text:

Oh God. What a day. l've been up since 7:00 and here it is dinner time already and I haven't stopped yet. What am I doing in Providence, anyway? Brown isn't even my favorite color. Why 1I feel like breaking into song is beyond me.: B is for the way that Brown keeps me busy R is for the fun I have for free recreation QO is for our ancient traditions old W is for the weather condi- tions wet and N is for what happens if I let Brown get to me! nurd But singing won't get you anywhere around here. You have to be quietin the libraries, and you'd have to have a voice like Ethel Merman to overpow- er the guys down the hall who play their stereo 24 hours a day. It's so strange, if you think about it. I mean, who'd have thought, 50 years ago when Brown was all guys, and when Sarah Doyle was a woman rather than a building, that rock and roll would be echoing between these buildings? It's such a contrast, the blend of the old and new, but it helps make Brown bearable. You need something to keep your spirits up in a place with weath- er like this. It's always raining here. If it isn't raining, it's snowing, and if it isn't doing ei- ther of these, it's about to. Sometimes I just want to throw my umbrella down and say Let it rain all over me! But there are other times when I like to stay snuggled up inside, away from the elements, and if that involves studying, well then so be it. The fourth floor of the Rock may leak, but it's nothing like being outside. Be- sides, it makes sense. I mean, there is so much work to do, why waste time inside by not doing it? You can leave the singing in the rain nonsense to Gene Kelly, or save it for Christmas vacation. But then, I have that paper . . .

Page 9 text:

making is a training of real impor- tance for the outside world, and it's important that for many it happens first at Brown. Freshman year is an unusually ex- hilarating time for many. There isn't a student on campus who doesn't have amazing stories to tell: Remember the Christmas party when we all got drunk and raided Appleby? The ad- ventures continue, and so does the learning, but neither seem quite the same as they do as a Freshman.