While I am not unconditionally smitten with Trinity, I am having an excellent time here at Trinity. Where are you roomed, Cavs? I also sincerely doubt you "know" 500 members of our class. I extremely social and I have only /met/ ~300 members of our class. And while drinking may seem to be a social issue, it's truly not. You must be hanging out with the wrong crowd my friend...I live in Jones and we simply learn to enjoy ourselves. If you can't find anything to do, you are not looking. The Fred is an excellent venue for quite a bit of entertainment. Did you go to the ReadNex hip-hop show? I am not a rap fan but I had an excellent time. What type of action are you looking for Cavs? If you're looking for counterstrike LAN parties ( :? ) you won't find them here...we're not in for that type of entertainment. The frats are fine just for hanging out - if you feel you need to drink to have fun at a frat you should rethink your conception of college. There's always something to do, you just have to stop waiting around in your dorm for it to come and find you. For academic conversation, just hang out with Guided Studies kids like me...we party hard and work just as hard. All of us in Guided Studies have to go out to find entertainment - Jones is maybe not the best of dorms, but its simply a matter of taking initiative to entertain yourself - get used to not being spoonfed life. And by the way kids...you don't need to wear polo shirts to fit in...wear what you want. some days i wear polo, collared shirts, and others i wear radiohead and sigur ros shirts. be yourself and you'll be fine.
Cavs, I'm also not a heavy drinker or frat-goer and it took me about a year to find my place at Trinity (and yes, in that time I was filling out transfer apps like crazy). One thing that really helped me was befriending upperclassmen who have already grown as tired of the frat scene as you have or never liked it to begin with. And sometimes I still hate it here, but it is the interesting kind of hate where it gives you something to do with yourself (e.g. the SGA ****es me off to the point i write an article in the Tripod, etc.).
Hard to swallow the #4 for "Little Race/Class Interaction" and #16 for "Alt Lifestyles Not an Alt" - - even for great academics. D2 found the campus/students far more parochial than her NE boarding sch.
Also interesting that those characterizatoins have gone unacknowledged by all on this thread (other than dlindner).
its great here actually.. since its ramadan and i cant hav alcohol for a mth.. i hav been refrainin.. and to be honest its not hard... lets say even prior to ramadan i would still not drink much... and still blend in and hav heaps of fun.....
Most first years come in with huge expectations. It's COLLEGE and you've been waiting for it for so long...
It's also a huge adjustment, even if it isn't the first time you've been away from home. In my experience, lots of people have trouble adjusting to big changes (and not just first year college students). Sometimes it hits right away and sometimes it hits after a few months. Be patient.
Try to give it a real chance. Be kind to yourself and make sure you are eating properly and getting enough sleep and exercise.
Keep exploring. Have you looked into the Trinity community service world? Think about things that you enjoyed in high school. Is there a way to continue doing some of them? Routinely look through the listings of events on campus and try a few of them; don't expect to feel fulfilled by the party scene.
Maybe you just need a weekend away. Do you have friends you can visit at nearby schools? You are lucky to be in Hartford as the train connects to lots of places.
Maybe you just need to get home for Thanksgiving. That's coming up soon.
As you get to know your professors, don't be shy about mentioning to them that you have not yet found your niche. They've seen other students struggle with the same things that are troubling you and they may have some good suggestions.
Replies to: I hate it here!!
Also interesting that those characterizatoins have gone unacknowledged by all on this thread (other than dlindner).
It's also a huge adjustment, even if it isn't the first time you've been away from home. In my experience, lots of people have trouble adjusting to big changes (and not just first year college students). Sometimes it hits right away and sometimes it hits after a few months. Be patient.
Try to give it a real chance. Be kind to yourself and make sure you are eating properly and getting enough sleep and exercise.
Keep exploring. Have you looked into the Trinity community service world? Think about things that you enjoyed in high school. Is there a way to continue doing some of them? Routinely look through the listings of events on campus and try a few of them; don't expect to feel fulfilled by the party scene.
Maybe you just need a weekend away. Do you have friends you can visit at nearby schools? You are lucky to be in Hartford as the train connects to lots of places.
Maybe you just need to get home for Thanksgiving. That's coming up soon.
As you get to know your professors, don't be shy about mentioning to them that you have not yet found your niche. They've seen other students struggle with the same things that are troubling you and they may have some good suggestions.
Good luck.