By Urooj Kamran Azmi

The most frustrating thing I had to face as AN NU-Q freshman was the repetition of the question, “How does it feel to be here?” and the equally annoying answers: “Overwhelming. Great. Scary.”

I mean, how can I sum up every memorable emotion I’ve experienced since I got here in one small paragraph, let alone three to four words? There are five key points that I can explain that will portray what it feels to be in the class of 2017.

First of all, it’s perfectly okay to look dumb. We’re new here; some of us are studying subjects we didn’t even know existed, like philosophy and kinesiology. And now we’re suddenly surrounded by hundreds of people, all of whom seem to have so much more intellect and control over their lives. The advantage of having experienced upperclassmen means lower expectations from us freshman. We can ask what seems to be the silliest questions, and be clueless about course outlines, event schedules and technology (guilty as charged). After all, getting excited about every little thing and being quirky is an age-old legacy we freshmen need to uphold.

And of course, let’s not forget the free food. Apparently the ‘Free Food Fantasy’ only lasts a year, and then it just gets bland and potentially destroys your taste buds. Personally, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of getting free pizza. To top it off (as much as I want to leave this part out), gaining the famous “Freshman Fifteen” doesn’t really help our case either. But I guess that’s all part of the college experience.

Food aside, I can say, without a doubt, that the third greatest thing about being a freshman is the experience of meeting “new” people. I know this may seem redundant, but if you’re an international student like I am, seeing all kinds of new faces in person is quite the thrill.

On a related note, people probably had a lot of fun meeting people who come from a different culture. However, considering the number of Pakistanis and Indians living here, that thrill lay in something different: the excitement of meeting people that have mutual friends on Facebook. I speak from experience.

Fourthly, even though I’ve been on campus for just a few weeks now, everything still just feels so new. It doesn’t help our ego that we moved into the new dorms this year. That’s just one more thing for us to be proud of. The cherry on top of the whole experience is getting our own single rooms, disco bunk beds and even motion-censored bathroom lights!

Becoming a university student also means that you’ve finally grown up, so you can get away with drinking more than two cups of coffee a day, staying out from 7 am to 6 pm because your classes run late, wearing almost anything you want to class (for many of us, no more starched uniforms!) and acting like you know what you’re doing because you’re old enough to be independent.

There’s nothing like the fresh taste of freedom when you graduate from high school and head off to college.

Lastly, all freshmen enjoy the luxury of receiving endless attention throughout the year, or at least the first semester. Our upperclassmen have helped us settle in our dorms, choose our courses, show us how to smooth-sail through our classes and help with day-to-day issues. The amount of attention we have received, only in the past three weeks is overwhelming, to say the least, and I honestly doubt this congenial atmosphere could exist in any other educational compound.