Things You Will See Every Freshman Do

You see them on campus with that doe-eyed look and the sweet smell of eagerness wafting around them. They’re the incoming freshmen.

The start of the school year for a college freshman is an exciting but often scary time of transition. Freshmen are cast into an entirely new environment with completely new people, so it’s understandable that they make a couple of rookie moves during their first few weeks. It’s not their fault, they’re new. But it certainly makes them easier to identify.

Keep an eye out for these things you’ll see most freshmen do early on this semester:

Stopping at one of the on-campus map podiums to find their bearings.

Butchering the pronunciation of McLanahan’s.

Buying their books when they could have rented for half the price.

Looking lost and overwhelmed in the HUB.

Taking the white loop from East only to get off at Forum.

Getting their first picture at the Lion Shrine as an official Penn State student.

Looking both ways on College and Beaver Ave.

Sporting a lanyard.

Mumbling the words of the alma mater at the end of a football game because they don’t know it by heart yet.

Buying excess Penn State T-Shirts and other apparel from the many, many downtown shops.

Hearing about “Grillers” and having no idea what that was (R.I.P.)

Giving their email addresses to any and all clubs at the involvement fair.

There are likely many more additions that could make the list, but we’re confident nearly every freshman will at some point find themselves doing at least one of these things. It may take some time for the new kids to get acclimated to dear old State, but it’s a big school and they still are only freshmen.

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