Welcome to Syracuse, nerds! Unwilling as we may be to admit it, seeing the hoards of fresh faces and starry eyes pouring onto campus warms our collective upperclassmen heart. The enthusiasm, the energy, the naivety! It brings us back to our days of using Google Maps to find academic buildings and casual banter about The Mount steps at DJ’s. We may even go so far as to say it invokes, gasp, sympathy.

So, for the benefit of the Syracuse University Class of 2019, I, Evan Hohenwarter, mover and shaker of Onondaga County, Master of Marshall Street, champion of my domain, have decided to step down from my high horse, resist the base instinct to stuff you in a locker, and deliver sage wisdom to you, my newest peers. Great advice? Maybe. Better than nothing? Yeah, sure.

On blending in

Half the anxiety of beginning freshman year is feeling like you don’t fit in. You’re in college, at the next step, co-mingling with people who have their own apartments and fully-realized facial hair. Yet, you don’t even have a car and painful memories of your parents moving you into your dorm with the family minivan are still tender. Feeling like you belong and fitting in amongst all these older, seemingly grown strangers is important to you.

Best advice: Don’t worry about it. We’ve all been there and know what it’s like. How else would I have just described it so eloquently? Yes I, Master of Marshall Street, champion of my domain, was once a freshman, too. Secretly, tucked deep down inside, we’re all a little jealous of you. Such new and exciting times! Strange and wonderful things are about to happen to you and we, the been-there-done-that veterans, can’t help but long for those days.

So wear your Otto’s Army t-shirt with pride, keep your student ID on a lanyard around your neck — it’s so convenient! — and wander Euclid in large packs looking for the next great college party you can brag to your “home friends” about. Or, if you’re unconvinced and hope to camouflage yourself as an upperclassman, definitely don’t do any of those things. That Otto’s Army t-shirt makes a great present for your little brother over Thanksgiving break.

Learn how to say no

There’s a lot going on in college. Someone, at any given moment, is doing something really fun. And when that really fun thing is over, and you reconvene, they will undoubtedly inform you how really fun it was and how you should have been there. Your ability to be successful in college will rely on your ability to make peace with missing these sorts of really fun activities from time to time. Find your routine, put in some time at Bird (that’s the name of the library) and earn your leisure time. There will be plenty of it.

Meet everyone you can

The beginning of freshman year is a strange time when blindly introducing yourself to everyone around you is completely acceptable and welcome. That’s how beautiful friendships are born. If you don’t hit it off, all it means is that you’ll politely wave to each other in passing for a few weeks until you both get sick of it. No biggie. Perfecting your casual wave is crucial. Practice in a mirror. You’re looking for “friendly, but not necessarily interested in having a conversation.” Once you get that down, college is a downhill stroll.

Join a club, organization, team

Syracuse feels big at first, but once you get involved you’ll be throwing around that casual wave to about half the campus. Find your niche, whether it’s club sports, intramurals, student publications or a capella. So many choices!

Well, that’s all I’ve got; the culmination of my experiences, the wisdom born of the small wins and losses woven into the fabric of my life. When you achieve great success as a result of my council, don’t forget to thank me, Evan Hohenwarter, mover and shaker of Onondaga County, Master of Marshall Street, champion of my domain, as you accept your Oscar, Grammy, Pulitzer or Visa charges at the corner store. Go get ‘em kid; the world is your oyster.

Evan Hohenwarter is a senior advertising major who is almost as modest as he is handsome. He can be reached at emhohenw@syr.edu or on Twitter at @evanhohmbre.

Published on August 25, 2015 at 10:35 pm