They can be spotted a mile away. They travel in packs of 50 when they go out and don brand new Illini Union Bookstore lanyards around their necks. If you don’t know which group of students I am referring to by now, then you probably haven’t spent much time outside of your apartment in the last few days. That’s right, I am talking about the new babies on campus — the freshmen class of 2018.

As an upperclassman, I know it’s easy to poke fun at these seemingly clueless individuals. They don’t get it, and we get a little confidence boost by having the upper hand. However, upperclassmen should encourage and support freshmen as they make their transition onto campus.  

This year, my sister joined the freshmen class in engineering. Between her and the other girls on her floor, I have received my fair share of phone calls, ranging from questions about where room 420 in Noyes Lab is to how to order a bus ticket to go home.

To seasoned veterans like myself and others, these questions might seem silly, and we could be tempted to tell freshmen to figure it out on their own. I have even witnessed upperclassmen knowingly telling freshmen the completely wrong directions when asked by them on the street.

I know that treating the poor freshmen like this may be funny to some, but it is much more productive to help out the freshmen when they ask for help. We were there once, too. Interacting with freshmen during our daily lives on campus is inevitable. They could be our future sorority sisters, fraternity brothers, co-workers or our partners on group projects. And we need to remember that when we interact with them.

Speaking as someone in the Greek system, for example, developing and maintaining positive relationships with freshmen is especially important. With recruitment season right around the corner, every sorority woman will be having countless conversations and interactions with freshmen. We want them to join our house, and for them to consider doing that, we have to mesh well together. Rushing freshmen will probably join the house where they feel most comfortable and get along best with the women. The upperclassman who make fun of freshmen will stick out and could jeopardize these potential bonds. 

And then there are other social events on campus, too. Going to parties during welcome week has definitely been a challenge for me and other upperclassmen. When walking up to these parties, swarms of freshmen girls are often as far as the eye can see. You can usually tell they are freshmen because they tend to wear mini-skirts and they all seem to think four-inch heels are appropriate for a hot, sweaty house party. Yes, I agree it is hard to resist the urge to laugh at them, but we should rise above it. Dressing and acting like this is what they think is acceptable for college. It is what they have seen in the media, and they truly do not know better at this point. We should kindly teach them otherwise. 

We were all freshmen once, too. We have all jumped on the wrong 22 Illini bus, we have all walked the opposite direction looking for our lecture hall and we have all gone to McKinley church while looking for the health center.

As we have all done these things, what is the point in adding to other’s suffering? These students are nervous enough without upperclassmen giving them a hard time. We need to show these younger students how we do things here at the University and encourage them along the way. 

As a current LAS 101 Freshman Seminar teaching assistant, I will be teaching a group of 26 freshmen once a week to help make their transition to campus life smoother. We will be covering everything from campus resources to study skills. Having a role like this has helped me realize how important feeling comfortable is to freshmen’s success. Coming to a university with more than 44,000 students, 17 colleges and 23 different residence halls, it is no wonder these freshmen are feeling overwhelmed. 

Many freshmen are leaving home for the first time. Some of them are traveling from out of state, or even out of country. By putting ourselves in their shoes and remembering how it felt, we should feel inclined to cut them slack and help them along the way. We should treat them how we wanted to be treated when we were freshmen.

If they ask for directions, don’t lead them astray; if they come up to you at a party requesting help, give it to them. We are all Illini, and we are all united. We should love our freshmen, lanyards and all.

Rebecca is a senior in LAS. She can be reached at [email protected].