Needless to say, when I arrived at the University of North Carolina, I was in awe. The most shocking moment was walking, with map in hand, to my first class and couldn't help but notice the similarity of this fiasco to that of a large anthill. I was amazed! This is not to say that I am in any way opposed to this; my high school was too small and everyone knew everything about everyone else. I was simply out of my past environment and in a brand new one full of young people like me, all trying to scurry to their classes.
What is even more amazing than the sheer number of students here is the challenge that the University faces with accommodating them all. For one, there are innumerable amounts of building, some old, some new, many resembling or smelling of old and creepy hospitals, and they are all clean. Next the University has to find a place to house the majority of its students, which is a great feat in itself. But maybe the most impressive is the school's ability to feed all of these hungry mouths. The length line for Ram's head suggests that John Lennon rose from the dead and was at the end signing autographs, and not that there was just decent food waiting at the end.
Through all this, a student has to work hard to make himself more than just another PID or another serial number. I am sure many students (especially freshman) feel belittled and insignificant by the towering buildings large masses of people, all of whom seem so comfortable hanging out with their group of friends. A student could become a part of something such as a club, group, fraternity (although I am mildly opposed to them), or sorority in order to a sense of belonging and meaning. But through all this I would encourage that person to keep their own identity and not be engulfed into the amoeba of kids sporting the standard issue oxford, khaki pants (or shorts for the summertime fraternity outfit) and of Sperry's.
In conclusion, I expect that plenty of new freshman share this same reaction. I encourage them to push through the first few days of school, it will get better and become more fun than it already is.
