COLUMN: Figuring out your place on campus

Being both old (by college student standards) and a transfer student, the outlook can be a little bleak, but with a little maneuvering, a little cash, and thick skin, you can make it through the gauntlet that is undergraduate education.

Now it may seem like everyone has already filled their quota for friends, but like Laffy Taffy, government bailouts and my own personal porn collection, there is always room for expansion. 

If you are an older student, (in college, older is generally anything over 25 years) be prepared to weather the geriatric humor. Young college students are much like sharks or piranha, they tend to hunt together, and if they smell blood, or Aspercreme … a feeding frenzy ensues. So brush it off, quickly.

If you are a transfer student, do not to talk about your former school or its policies in glowing terms, i.e. “at my last school we were better at ...” It will not endear you to people; it may make them wonder why you ever left, and hope you return. So leave your old school where it is.

Meeting new people may seem like an insurmountable task, but you only get a clean slate once, so make it count. If you get invited out, and you can afford to buy the first round, do it. Do not wait until the end of the night to get generous. Your new friends may be blacked out, and you wouldn’t want to waste your money on someone who is about to turn into a vomit sprinkler.

If you do not have to get a job to support yourself and your study habits, congratulations, you are better off than I am. To meet new people who share your interests, there are a myriad of student groups. If dressing in medieval garb and playing with swords is for you, check out The Society for Creative Anachronism and the Fencing Club. 

If you prefer to keep your inner nerd … inner, check out the Paintball Club, where being shot by little paint-filled balls helps you unlock your inner Chuck Norris.

Another great way to get to know your new home and fellow ‘Yotes is to go to sporting events.  With USD now transitioning to Division I athletics, every game is going to be crackling with excitement, and the DakotaDome will be bursting at the seams with student bodies and that should include you.

The main focus should be interaction. You must decide your own level of involvement, but if you don’t put yourself out there, no one is going to know you exist, so get out there. 

But leave the Aspercreme and your old school at home.

Reach reporter Nolan Peterson at Nolan.H.Peterson@usd.edu.

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2 comments

Maren

Sun May 10 2009 10:26

Nolan...this was hilarious!

Laura Selden

Sat May 9 2009 23:19

Up with Laffy Taffy! Down with vomit sprinklers!

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