If you are a perspective student wondering why you should choose Lawrence University, perhaps these responses from the incoming class of 2013 will help to guide your search.
“Out of all the colleges and universities, why Lawrence?”
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Still more to come…
We know we’re not supposed to make out-of-date references to pop culture, but the title is supposed to be sung to the tune of the theme song for Friends, which most of you only know from syndicated reruns.
It turns out, a lot of you are worried about some of the same things. However, the thing you are still the most nervous about is making new friends. This was followed by succeeding academically, your roommate and being away from home. Other themes we found after we asked you what you were still nervous about included time management, living independently/college life, Wisconsin’s weather, transitioning to college and Appleton and financial management.
For each of these concerns, we’ve got you covered.
We’d like to introduce you to the magic that is Residence Life. These are the people who will work with you every step of the way, to help you successfully transition to college life, at Lawrence University, in Appleton. Even if you are worried about the weather.
If you’re having an issue with your roommate, there is a trained student-staff member on your floor. If you are worried about making friends, trust us, Residence Life is already planning events and activities to introduce you to people. If you start to fall behind in one of your classes, they know how to connect you with a free tutor. If you are feeling homesick, they’re around to help you, too. Any of the most common issues that you can think about…Residence Life is ready to help you.
Remember – they helped last year’s freshmen!
So, while it’s healthy to be a little nervous, know that we’ve got people around to help you whenever you need it.
Even if it’s someone to eat macaroni and cheese with at three am.
But please don’t do that every night!
Believe it or not, television can be a bonding activity in college. We still have very strong memories of a few television shows we discovered friends through in college. There are common ones, The Bachelor, Packer games (sorry, this is Wisconsin we’re living in), and who could forget Cheers? There are also the uncommon shows that truly drew us to the kind of friends we’ve stayed connected to for the rest our lives.
From what we can tell, it looks as though many of you have already found a bond over favorite television shows or even lack of any kind of interest in television. The top response we received was, “I don’t watch TV” (though one of these individuals was concerned if this was okay, “is that sad?” he asked, we think it’s perfectly fine – to each his/her own!).
Following closely behind were The Office and House (each show received 12 votes!). We cannot forget the few shows that fell behind the top two shows, though these only received 4 or 5 votes each. They include: America’s Next Top Model, Arrested Development, Grey’s Anatomy, So You Think You Can Dance, and Gossip Girls.
Let the bonding begin!
To the class of 2013:
Out of all the colleges and universities in the world, you will come matriculating into ours. We are honored and thrilled to have you! In a recent survey, we asked, “Why Lawrence”?
Please enjoy some of the responses below.
– Shakespeare classes in Britain
– It’s a College that Changes Lives
More to come…
If the incoming class of Lawrentians were all pies, they’d be humorous, intelligent apple pies.
There’s a lot of interesting things you all had to say about pies and strange foods. Before we get to that, though, it’s worth giving you the link for Bon Appetit, the food service company that will be cooking you all sorts of delicious pies…and hopefully not many of the strange foods you reported eating or feeding people.
It really is an intriguing, interesting site. For example, if you click the “environment” tab, you can find out the difference between grass-fed, natural and industrial beef…among other interesting things.
So, back to the pies. First, 47 of you responded with some sort of joke. Some of our favorite jokes were:
– I’d be wondering how I became a pie.
– I wouldn’t be able to answer this question.
– I would not be capable of conscious thought…but I would taste SOOOOO good.
Equally interesting was the 33 of you who responded intellectually. Many of you crafted nifty plans to avoid being eaten. We considered that intellectual…it’s just good to think about self preservation if you ever find yourself to be a tasty baked good. Especially when you’re coming to a college campus. Here are the intellectual highlights:
– I’d be wondering how I became a pie.
– I’d be larger but unevenly sliced. (Sorry to bring economics into this!)
– I would be so disgusting so I wouldn’t be eaten.
– I would sit on a table and not move, because no matter how hyped up they are, pies are still inanimate objects.
– I probably couldn’t process the conditional ‘if’.
– I should grow two legs and run for my life.
After that, the most popular response was “apple.”
So, here are the top five edible responses.
1 – Apple Pies
2 – Strawberry Rhubarb Pies
3 – Chocolate Pies
4 – Pumpkin Pies
5 – Cherry Pies
Besides that, there are some things you should know about your fellow incoming Lawrentians. They are willing to eat some strange things. Here’s what we found the most interesting:
– The peanut butter sandwich I found in the locker room.
– I tried the cinnamon challenge. A tablespoon of cinnamon.
– I drank a mixture of sprite, pepper, chicken, biscuits, broccoli, sour cream…
– I’ve had a goat’s brain. It actually tastes good when it is cooked in a Pakistani way!
– A Costa Rican flower that made my face numb.
– Barbeque crickets.
– Fried ants.
– A slice of the World’s Biggest Cupcake.
– A McRib.
Although it does get more worrisome than what you’ve eaten, here are some of the things you’re willing to feed to other people:
– Soy sauce shots.
– Ketchup and mustard-covered marshmallows.
– The French fry of doom. A fry covered in multiple alternating layers of ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. It did not go down well.
– A live cicada.
– A lie, perhaps?
– Cinnamon cheeseburgers. Better than you’d think…
– Coke bacon.
It’s important to tell you…besides the list of pies, nothing mentioned here will be served in the campus center.
(At least, not by us!)
