Freshman year is a whirlwind of new experiences. While your first year away from home is bound to be different from your roommate’s or your teammate’s, there are some similar experiences for nearly every first-year student at GW.
September: Fraternities on fraternities
Whether your friend knows the pledge that’s running door duty for the night, or you run into other girls in the hall going to the same fraternity house, you have probably run a loop of every fraternity worth partying with during your first month on campus.
October: Three weeks of costumes
Halloween in college is reputed as a month of parties, so naturally, you come up with a different costume for each one. Halloween weekend requires one outfit for every event: one for Rocky Horror, another for embassy trick-or-treating and a third for whichever fraternity party you’re attending.
November: Friendsgiving
The first Thanksgiving season away from home is difficult for many students — even though you may be back home for Thanksgiving day, you might end up missing some holiday family traditions. The best cure for homesickness is being with friends who you have grown to love over your first three months on campus, so Friendsgiving becomes a popular first-year tradition.
December: Thurston epidemic
Living in tight quarters and eating takeout day-in and day-out catches up with your body. Suddenly it seems your entire hall is sneezing and coughing, and the noise will keep you up at night until you contract the illness yourself.
January: First blizzard
Whether you’re a California kid experiencing snow for the first time or you’ve shoveled it your whole life, trudging to the National Mall during the first blizzard for pictures and sledding is a common #OnlyatGW experience.
February: Tinder time for valentines
You probably jokingly made a Tinder profile when you were drunk one night with your friends, but you may have never used it seriously. As Valentine’s Day approaches and there seems to be couples at every turn, and you might find yourself considering the app seriously.
March: Cherry blossoms on Instagram
When you told people back home you were moving to D.C., they probably mentioned the beauty of cherry blossom season — unique to the District. Now it’s finally here, and your Instagram feed is full of artsy blossom photos.
April: Finals and a reality check
The closer you get to summer, the more you realize how many responsibilities lie ahead — finding an internship, planning a study abroad experience or securing a part-time job. In a few short months, you can’t use the excuse of being a freshman anymore.
