are you a cool kid?

so i helped out with freshman orientation today. oh my goodness, i was laughing the whole time.

poor kids. half of them won't make it, and they don't even know it. tech is a really tough school. but i'm not a sadist, that's not what i was laughing at.

it's the little freshmen! the little froshies with their witty t-shirts and their pretty jewelry and their preppy clothes and new backpacks and perfect makeup. oh, the little kids, most of them trying so, SO hard to be cool. some of them pulling the "i'm too cool to look around me" or the ever-present "this is a waste of my time." others had the attitude of "i'm the greatest person ever, come be my friend!" sadly, there were many that were scared to death. when i talked to them they couldn't even answer without panicking.

to be fair, there were a lot of kids at orientation that are actully, genuinely cool. i talked to several of them. the cool ones are the ones who realize that we, the helpers, really do know what we are talking about, and they can benifit from our help. i'm not saying that i'm the all-knowing goddess of the universe or anything, but i've actually been going to tech for three years and i know how it works. the cool kids aren't freaking out trying to make first impressions. and they look you in the eye. i love that. a lot of the cool kids were at the mechanical engineering table. coincedence? i think not.

i don't know if you're reading between the lines or not, but i'm actually thrilled that the freshmen are coming. i love meeting new people, even if they think they are too cool to be here. i love talking to new kids and finding out about their lives.

but some advice? freshmen, really. don't try to be cool. you're the coolest when you're just yourself, i promise. don't try to re-invent yourself. and don't, whatever you do, pull the "this is such a watse of my time" attitude. then people just think you're mean. you've got all of your college experience to make friends, don't try to rush it. you'll be fine.