Oh Freshmen

It's been said that you can get college students to do anything if you promise them a free t-shirt. My life is a pretty good example of that. I love free t-shirts. I also really like free food. This tempting combination led to me signing up to be on the Welcome Crew for incoming freshmen.

Turns out the majority of my friends do not find the free t-shirt idea as undeniably fantastic as I do. They thought I was crazy. My sceptical roommate went so far to suggest that I didn't seem the welcome crew type. Not that I was a mean person, per say, just not the bubbly welcome-to-campus-we're-so-excited-you're-here type. I said I could be when I wanted to be. I just usually don't want to be. But there was a free t-shirt involved, guys.

So yesterday we started the 8 hours of freshmen, freshmen's parents, freshmen's little siblings, and carloads and carloads of really pink dorm decorations streaming into town from every direction. I wound up being traffic control infront of the main girl's dorm. I have never seen so much hot pink in one place at a time. It was a little sickening. I could also direct you to West Campus in my sleep. No, the direction you're heading would be East. Turn around and find Broadway. And for God's sake, stop turning into the one-way at the exit.

But I got to wear a fluorescent yellow vest. It was sexy, you would have liked it. And I had a walkie-talkie, which made me feel pretty important. And don't forget the free t-shirt.

So I was pretty much a pro at the traffic control thing. Once in a while I helped move boxes upstairs. The elevator lines got pretty long (who builds a dorm with 13 floors? really, guys?) so I had some overly-eager girls hauling boxes up the stairs to the 7th and 10th floors. Good for them, but I only lasted a few trips up that many flights of stairs, and then returned to my true calling as traffic control.

I did have some interesting conversation with parents. Parents who were sad but excited to send off their only child to college, parents who wished all the kids were out of the house, parents who were nice and parents who yelled alot. Parents who brought three cars or rented U-hauls for all their kid's crap. The night before all this excitement I was remembering my own freshman move-in day. Granted it was a different school in a different state in a different universe, but I could remember how scary and crazy it all was. I found myself getting nervous for the freshmen. And then I had parents asking me about school and my experience. And if I was a sophomore. Nope, I'm a senior this year. Yes, I am graduating in the spring.

Wait, what?

Holy cow. Let's not think about that. I think I'll go back out to the street corner and point cars to Broadway and explain how to get to Target and show them where to park. Unloading only here, folks. I think I'll keep standing out here for 4 more hours and get really sunburnt so the next morning when I wake up my face will be more red than my hair. Awesome.

Did I mention I got a free t-shirt for all this excitement?