A tale of two O-Weeks (Rinaldho)

So, now that O-Week has come and gone, what do we all think? Well, for me, as the title of my post indicates, I experienced two different O-Weeks, one was at the university itself, and the other, from the perspective of a Residential College student…

Firstly, let me rant about the uni’s O-Week: OK, so after all of the blogs/brochures/posters I had come across in the past few months, I was pumping myself up for what was surely going to be the best week of my life, where I would meet some of my best friends and have great laughs, but let’s be honest, the O-Week events at the university did NOT live up to all the hype which it built its foundation on. The host groups, were ok, but I mean, I already knew everything the host was telling me, and the constant downpour of information didn’t really leave that much time for people in the group to actually have a laugh and, well, make friends. Also, other than the host groups, the whole week just felt like a bazaar to me, and NOT a highly social event, which it was billed as. I don’t know, it might just be me, but from what I have read on the blogs in the past few days, I really doubt it. But HEY, maybe I AM talking out of my ass, and you had a great time at the university’s O-Week events, and if so, congratulations, but I just believe you are a very small minority. I just want to make it clear, I am not trying to tell you that O-Week sucks and that you shouldn’t go to yours, all I’m saying is, don’t get your hopes up like I did, or else, you might well be very let down by reality…

However, O-Week at the college I am staying in was a COMPLETELY different story. Now, I won’t go into too many specifics since I don’t want to ruin the surprises if you do decide on going to a residential college. So, unlike the university, the hype for O-Week events at the college was almost non-existent, I wasn’t told what to expect, so I was walking into this with a massive blindfold on, but as soon as I walked into the college, the blinfold peeled off to show what was going through my head when I envisioned the university’s O-Week. Throughout the week, I had made many new close friends (well, how can you not be close to the people you drink, dance, run, shout, drink, chant, eat, and drink with), learned some new songs, ran around the city aimlessly, learned a new dance, drank too much goon (no more for me for about 2 years), and danced around in a PARTY BUS with 130 other freshers. I won’t go into further detail, as I said before, but I just wanted to say that my O-Week at the college, was AWESOME (Note: I will be saying “awesome” a lot in my posts, mainly due to my inability to find a better fitting word, but this week has literally been AWESOME).

So, what did I think of O-Week? I believe that if I wasn’t living in a college, I would have been majorly let down by the events which were on offer. I know I might sound like I’m trying to brag about my college experience to the off-campus students, and if it comes across as that, I apologise, but this is just how I experienced the week. But my advice on O-Week for all of you future students is: really think about going to college, if not as a resident, join the Non-Resident program which was introduced this year, where you get to experience O-Week as a college resident, it is worth it.

Rinaldho

P.S. Feel free to tell me your stories, I would love to hear them…