Anonymous users on Yik Yak participate in mock “freshman tips” trend. (Illustration Courtesy of the CU Independent, Images Courtesy of Yik Yak)
Alexia: Hi! I’m Alexia Bailey, a junior here at the University of Colorado Boulder. Because I’ve been here and seen things, I’m here to share everything I’ve picked up so far, which is a surprising amount of information. “What’s Eating at Alexia” is my unofficial and unfiltered guide to some of the things that being a CU Boulder Buff brings. Think of it as your guide to navigating everything that makes CU Boulder, well, CU Boulder. Whether you’re a freshman finding your footing or a senior with “no body, no crime” level grievances about finals week, I’m here to share my takes, tips and honest observations on everything from the sometimes-unpredictable choices that CU Boulder makes to navigating online controversies that surround and impact college life. College is a wild, unforgettable ride, and “What’s eating at Alexia” is here to make sense of some of it, one opinion at a time.
Usually, the popular social media site Yik Yak is a ghost town during the summer. Recently, however, a trend aimed at misinforming incoming freshmen has emerged and exploded across the app.
I find this trend fascinating because incoming freshmen tend to scour every social media platform they can find, searching for any information that might prepare them for university life. This outwardly witty trend preys on that anxiety and uncertainty. What makes these posts especially interesting is that they’re almost entirely satirical; the advice isn’t meant to be followed at all. Instead, these posts often encourage readers to do the exact opposite of what’s written without explicitly saying so.
I can only pray that incoming freshmen can use whatever media literacy they have before following this “advice.” I mean, it’s hard to find truthful, unbiased information about college life, especially here at the University of Colorado Boulder, that comes directly (and freely) from current students’ mouths. Yik Yak has proven itself to be often unreliable when it comes to actual advice, especially because the entire premise of the site is to be anonymous. The CU Boulder Reddit page is interesting because it has existed long enough to contain years of genuinely useful, unfiltered information, but not everything posted reflects what campus life looks like now. Some posts were written before incoming freshmen were even born. Others come from people who graduated years ago or never attended the university at all. It’s filled with inquiries that go into the void, unanswered.
And then there’s the problem with official university messaging. Universities are businesses, after all. Admissions tours and promotional materials are designed to sell you on an experience, not necessarily prepare you for the reality of accidentally locking yourself out of your dorm room at 2 a.m., or realizing your 8 a.m. class across campus was, perhaps, an ambitious scheduling choice. So, all of this to say, freshmen are left to their own devices (literally) to navigate college, and maybe that’s the way it should be. Perhaps, freshmen are supposed to arrive uninformed and clueless about picking roommates, scheduling classes and navigating independence for the first time.
However, I don’t buy that argument.
College is supposed to challenge you in every way that one can be challenged, whether that be academically, socially, or personally. It should not require you to decode contradictory Reddit threads, anonymous Yik Yak posts and marketing materials to figure out how to survive your first semester. I think that being misinformed is the worst thing that a person can be in this day and age. Being new to college should mean learning new things, not unnecessarily learning everything the hard way.
So, what advice do incoming freshmen actually need before coming to the University of Colorado Boulder, and where should they look for truthful information about college life?
To start, do not do what my friend did and schedule an 8 a.m. across campus unless you are absolutely certain you are capable of functioning before sunrise. You are probably overestimating yourself, and no, “I woke up early in high school” doesn’t count as a valid excuse.
You also don’t need to buy all of your textbooks immediately. Wait. Seriously. Some professors don’t even use the textbooks they prescribe, and some textbooks are cheaper (or free as PDFs) online. I know it’s tempting to just pay for the flat fee of $259 (or so) for CU Book Access, which is “CU Boulder’s equitable access course materials program, provides degree-seeking undergraduate students access to all of their required course materials before the first day of class for a flat-rate price.” However, I have only used it once in the four semesters that I have been here. Read your syllabus first, attend the first week of classes and figure out what you truly need before spending hundreds of dollars. You can opt out!
When it comes to what to bring, there’s a handy-dandy packing list that the university puts out, full of things to and things not to bring. I highly recommend a mattress pad, shower shoes and packing less stuff than you think you need. Your dorm room is smaller than it looked on the tour, especially if you have a roommate. Trust me: you do not need three sets of decorative pillows, your entire closet from home or the mini waffle maker that you swear you will use every morning. You won’t. Save yourself the pain of hauling boxes up multiple flights of stairs during move-in day and embrace minimalism, at least temporarily.
Socially, the biggest advice I have is to talk to people during the first two weeks, even if it feels awkward. Everyone is terrified and pretending they aren’t. Everyone seems to already have solid friend groups, but they don’t. Say yes when someone asks if you want to grab food. Introduce yourself to the people sitting next to you in class. Keep your dorm room door open every once in a while. The first few weeks of college are one of the few times in your life when introducing yourself to complete strangers is considered normal. Also, staff stresses joining clubs pretty hard here at CU Boulder, and they all have a point. Almost all of the friends that I have currently are from the clubs I joined freshman year, and the experience that those clubs gave me is nothing short of magical (for my resume at least).
Lastly, dear reader, please understand that the first few months of college feel strange for almost everyone. If you feel like everyone else has magically figured it out while you’re struggling, they probably haven’t. I called my mom every day, wrote actual physical letters home like a soldier at war and walked my happy butt to the Center for Community daily for some of that soft serve ice cream. I know that this advice isn’t as entertaining as anonymous Yik Yak posts telling you to date your floormate or take five back-to-back classes. But at minimum, I hope it will save you money, stress and at least one avoidable disaster.
CU in August, new Buffs.
Contact CU Independent Managing Editor Alexia Bailey at alexia.bailey@colorado.edu
