a graphic I made in excitement over this past summer
Approximately 120 days ago the guest room of my house was packed full of boxes; and into those boxes my entire life had been sorted. I had no idea what the journey ahead held in store for me. But now, 5 months later, I look back at my first semester of college, all the ups and all the downs, all the change and all the adjustment, and I smile.
I am the type of person who really likes to know what something is going to be like before I enter the situation, not only so that I can get excited about the possibilities but so that I can prepare myself for what is ahead. For this last post of the semester I have decided to walk you, dear reader, step by step through what to expect when you arrive at Furman. Now, in my usual fashion I’m not going to simply write some tight paragraphs about what happened, and what to expect– that would bore you and I both to tears. What I am going to do create a musical journey so you can hear my first semester. If you care to listen along with this post you can hear all the tracks for free on Spotify. Simply click HERE to open the playlist (if you don’t already have this free app I would encourage you to download it when prompted, at the very least it will make this post all the more poignant!) With that I invite you on one of the most eclectic and fascinating musical journeys you will ever take!
1. I Know it’s Today – Shrek the Musical
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The summer leading up to leaving to college is probably the second most emotionally expensive time you will face in the whole journey. It is in this time when you shift between confidence that you will indeed be the B.M.O.C., to fear that you will have no friends, to anticipation, to worry, to excitement, to anxiety, to sadness, to everything else. For me, I think I spent the most time in the “anticipation phase.” I just couldn’t wait to dive in.
2 . Oregon Trail – Woody Guthrie
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When you arrive at Furman, you will be immediately overwhelmed with people running everywhere moving things into their dorms, decorating things, and your emerging OCD will be triggered by the amount of people parking not in parking places but on the fields. Parents, kids, and hall staffers, are EVERYWHERE. When you first walk onto your hall you will notice (if you haven’t talked to your RA or FRAD yet) that your hall has a theme. My hall, along with my sister hall’s theme is Oregon Trail. You and your sister hall will compete with this theme all during O-Week.
O-Week is advertised as a great time to get to know people, which it is, but honestly, many of the people you will meet during O-Week won’t be among your close friends come the end of first semester. So don’t go into it thinking that you will meet your spouse or life long best friend that first week, it’s just probably not going to happen. (that’s not to say that it’s not fun!)
3. 6 Foot 7 Foot – Lil’ Wayne
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About the second day after your parents leave you stranded in a new place, all alone to fend for yourself you will find yourself walking around campus and notice the word “BLACKOUT” written on the ground. People will at first be skeptical about exactly what will happen during this blackout but by the end of dinner you will realize that it is a giant rave.
Here, for the first time the O-Staff will perform their O-Week Dance. Ours was set to Lil’ Wayne’s hit 6 Foot 7 Foot. This is often considered one of the most fun events of the year, depending on your dancing style preference this could be a really fun evening for you. I would encourage you to make sure to grab a small group of friends and plan to stick together. Navigating the sweaty chaos of 800+ kids dancing their little hearts out is fairly difficult alone; it becomes far more fun if you have a small group or a friend with you.
4. Young Blood – The Naked and Famous
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The topic of my first post of the year (above) is this feeling of detachment which is present for much of August and September. If you are like me you are a person who desires deep and meaningful relationships. Even if you say you don’t desire true friends then I still think these first few months will be hard for you, they are hard for everyone, at every college, you are not alone.
Remember how I said the waiting for college to start would be the second most difficult part of the transition? Well the “detachment” of August and September is by far the hardest. During this period you recognize the fulness of your departure from home, high school, etc. but you do not yet have any sort of roots planted a Furman (or whatever college you go to) – you are stuck in this in-between world where nothing feels right. Not home, not school.
My advice: 1. Be patient: no matter what eventually you will find friends, it may be by the end of september or by the end of december but everyone does fall into a group by some point or another. 2. Join stuff: your classes are a great way to meet people but there is nothing more effective than signing up for clubs and activities that appeal to your interests. This makes it FAR easier to meet people who are also interested in the same kinds of activities you are interested in. 3. Do crazy things. see #12.
5. God of This City – Chris Tomlin
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One day in early September, I was downtown and there was this awesome worship concert going on down in the park. They were playing this song when I walked up and it really encouraged me because I had been, as I said, struggling to find my group. Lines like “greater things are yet to come” really touched me. You will also have a moment like this, if you just look to be encouraged you will be.
And again, Like I and the song said “greater things are yet to come” – no matter how long it takes you to find a group you really fit in with eventually you will find one and it will be amazing.
6. Lay ‘em Down – NEEDTOBREATHE
I think I must have missed the general admissions requirement of “know single every word to every singe song the band NEEDTOBREATHE has ever written, ever” because once I got to Furman somehow I was the only one who was behind on this assignment. I came to find out that the reason everyone is so obsessed is that NEEDTOBREATHE graduated from Furman just a few years ago and apparently wrote many of their early songs on campus.
Tip: I would at least listen to their albums a few times through before you get on campus just so you can carry on a conversation when the topic turns NTB, as it inevitably will.
7. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight – The Postal Service
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One of the things that makes Furman rather unique is that the campus is actually pretty quiet fairly often, between classes in the mornings there are a lot of people moving about, but other than that it is not all too crowded. It is actually really nice to be able to walk across campus and see only a handful of people (and after about 3 weeks know over half of them,) but it’s not like at other universities that I have been too, like Chapel Hill, where you are almost getting run over by the mobile hoards anytime you wanna go anywhere.
Don’t think that means that there’s nothing to do, quite the contrary, it is because there is simply TOO MUCH to do, everyone gets involved in 900000000000000 things that they are super passionate about and so they spend their time actually doing thing rather than just tossing the frisbee around on the quad.
8. Dancing in the Moonlight – King Harvest
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The list of things that I think people should be aware of before they get to Furman is growing as I add #2: Learn to swing dance. Everyone loves it, it is the standard at many Greek functions and it is literally a requirement to date around here (well that last one may be a bit of an exaggeration) but really, everyone swing dances, it is wonderful!
RLC (residential life council) puts on a few events a year where students can come and learn to swing. My advice: Go. Learn. The sooner the better!
(PS: dear parents reading this blog: don’t you want to send your student to a school where the culture includes good ol’ fashioned swing dancing rather than raucous and rowdy party tunes? Exactly what I thought. Therefore, choose Furman!)
9. Two Weeks – Grizzly Bear
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By the end of September for me (it may be a little earlier or later for you) I was starting to hit a groove (you can check out the blog above to read ALL the details) I was starting to get a crowd of friends, starting to hone down my favorite activities. Starting to feel really at home with my decision to come to Furman.
10. Poison & Wine – The Civil Wars
I really like this song.
11. Down in the Valley – The Head and the Heart
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One of the places where I felt most at home is a place called the Vista House. It is part of Mere Christianity Forum (a religious group on campus) I included this song because I feel like it was something of a theme song for us the first semester. It seemed like almost every time we played music when I was over at the house someone was talking about The Head and the Heart.
12. Doing the Sponge – Spongebob Squarepants
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Tip: Do something crazy.
I signed up for something insane. It’s called HAVOC read the post linked above to find out more about exactly what we had to do but it involved degradation of my personal hygiene and extensive bladder control. It was this letting myself go that really helped me flourish here at school. Doing HAVOC forced me to come out of my shell and make a fool of myself. I dressed up like Sponge Bob, so I thought this song was fitting.
13. The Beat – Ben Rector
Every semester some big acts come to campus thanks to FUSAB (Furman University Student Activities Board) in the fall we had YouTube personality Glozell (of “My Push-Up Bra Helps Me Get My Man) and up and coming musical act Ben Rector. Past guests have included Matt & Kim, Far East Movement, Seth Myers and Girl Talk.
14. Mr. Blue Sky – Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)
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If you still have yet to visit Furman, so far the best time I’ve seen to do so is the fall, the weather is cooling down and all the trees have turned fire orange. It was about this time when I realized that I had fallen in love with my new school, like really falling head over heels for the beauty of the campus and everything I was involved with.
It took a few months, but “greater things” were indeed and are still yet to come.
15. Quicksand – Sleeping at Last
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There comes a point around mid November, right before Thanksgiving break, where you will feel like you are drowning in a pit of quicksand. There are a few things to remember during this stressful period. Yes, this count toward your GPA, so you need to do well on each one of the papers and tests. No, this doesn’t last forever, it will be over before you know it. Yes, you are capable of doing all of it and also getting an adequate amount of sleep.
If you are judicious with your time and don’t procrastinate all the tests and papers will get done. None of the professors are “out to get you” – you can finish it all if you just plan out your time and make a lot of lists!
16. Breathe – Angels & Airwaves
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No matter how hectic things get don’t forget to breathe, breathe deeply and breathe often. Unfortunately this is something I forgot. Once I did remember my stress levels dropped dramatically.
17. Moving too Fast – Jason Robert Brown (JRB)
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The first week of December brings with it the question of “WHAT THE HECK!! WHERE DID THE SEMESTER GO??!?!?” I can promise you will look back and realize that you are sitting in december and trying to figure out how all the moments add up to a full semester.
18. Stay Young, Go Dancing - Death Cab for Cutie/ 19. We Found Love – Rihanna
The exam period is really difficult. I’m not going to lie to you. The only tip I can give to you to help ameliorate the time of difficulty is to pepper in time with friends, short outings and other fun activities among your study time. Don’t do what I did and cage yourself up in your room for 2 weeks straight– instead “stay young, go dancing.”
One of the the few times when I escaped the oppression of my books was to attend a Pi Kapp party (one of the fraternities here on campus) song 19 is in the playlist because just because exams are there and they are daunting and you feel smothered, don’t let that cause you to miss out on cool stuff going on around campus. Just make sure to plan for it and you are golden.
20. Wagon Wheel – Old Crow Medicine Show (OCMS)
Eventually you will write the last line of your last essay, and bubble in your last multiple choice answer and exams will be over. For me that time meant it was time to “thumble my way into north caroline’” (a.k.a. head home) This time of year is bitter-sweet for a lot of people because you are SO happy to be done with exams and SO happy to be going home to see your family (who you will miss at least a little, despite what you may think now) but it is sad to leave all your new friends, you have lived and worked and played with them for the past few months and now you will be apart for almost a month! But fear not, by now you are just a freshman and have not only next semester but the next 4 years to spend with your new friends!
