New Student Orientation (NSO) can feel both scary and incredibly exciting. During this crazy week, you’re bound to meet some version of these seven people:
Your Roommate
At the end of the summer, Trinity emails you information about where you’ll live and the names of your roommate and suitemates. The only safe thing to do is immediately search their names on every social media site known to humanity to get a feel of who you’ll be living with “” all the way back to 2009, just to be safe. It’s a big deal to be sharing a room with a stranger for at least two semesters. You’ll have to be around them whether you like it or not for the next nine months. You’ll tune in to each other’s eating, sleeping and living habits.
“My roommate got sick with norovirus, aka the Trinivirus [our first year] and I had to take care of her. We ended up getting really close, we’re like family now,” said Maddie Grimes, sophomore.
The Kid With Newfound Freedom
This is the first time the majority of your fellow first years are being separated from their parents. For those with strict parents, that means one thing: freedom. They’re here to test boundaries, make terrible mistakes and go crazy. If you’re lucky, you won’t have a roommate like this.
“I was at a party freshman year and this mom was outside of the house looking for her child and it was really awkward, so I just went inside,” said Kate Grundy, junior.
The Cool Upperclassman
Whether they’re an Orientation Team or they’re your RA, you’re bound to meet one full-fledged college student whose coolness will make you drool. They seem to breeze through campus with swagger and charm, greeting everyone who’s anyone, and you’ll feel lucky to be one of those few. To you, they’ll seem so much older, so wise and so cool. What you’ll figure out in a few months is that they’re really just as lost and confused as you are, but older. Eventually, you’ll be just as overinvolved as they are!
“I had an RM who was an amazing beatboxer for the Acabellas,” said Anthony “Scuba” Sanchez, senior. What’s strange about these people is that some probably don’t even know that they’re cool.
The International Student
Trinity has a substantial amount of international students from all over the world, so if you’re not an international student yourself, you’re bound to meet one. The exposure to different people is a fundamental part of college, partially because of cultural exchange. “My [first-year] suitemate was an international student, and she taught me about all the different styles of music in Africa because she was from Tanzania. She had the most infectious, happy personality that I had encountered at Trinity, and we’re still really good friends,” said Molly Hogsett, senior.
The Person Who Somehow Already Has Friends
Either they have high school friends that go to Trinity too or they were very active on the new student Facebook page. While you’re just trying to set your feet on the ground, they already have multiple pressing social obligations with people you’ve never met. Coming into college without knowing anyone is what NSO is for. The secret is that some first years signed up for programs that meet before NSO, such as the Bridge or the Plunge, and met friends that way.
The Person You See Once and Then Never Again
There are a lot of activities during NSO designed to help you meet people, so you’re bound to meet someone who shares your exact interests, likes and dislikes. You’ll actually They might become your best friend in the span of an hour. The problem is, you may never see them again. Trinity is on the smaller side as far as universities go, but there are 2,228 of us and there is a chance you might go your entire Trinity career without encountering your soulmate again. Alternatively, they might have dyed their hair or shaved their beard, and you might never be able to spot them in a crowd again.
Rebel
This is a quickly formed group that you might encounter at some point during NSO. As soon as the first activity, members of this group will decide to opt out. You stop seeing them after the first day, and since you didn’t meet them for long, you’re not likely to know them very well. They have a demanding need to do nothing. Instead of attending the sometimes awkward-but-totally-worth-it icebreakers, they “chill.” As it turns out, chilling gets boring. If they know what’s good for them this little group will quickly catch a case of FOMO (fear of missing out), disband and decides to join in on the fun after all.
