Hot. Sweaty. Overpopulated.

These are the three words I would use to describe my first Quad Day. Despite the downsides, I loved every second of playing a part in the typical scenes used in movies to paint the beginning of college and the next four years of one’s life.

If you’re a freshmen, it would be silly not to attend Quad Day. There is too much information, too many new friends and way too many free things you would miss out on.

What’s not to love? Despite the image of the Main Quad being transformed into a maze of chaos and claustrophobia slowly settling into your subconscious, Quad Day is an accurate representation of how many people attend our school — spoiler alert, it’s a lot.

The good thing is you don’t need to stay there the whole time. Meander a little bit, look for free stuff and come up with a few clubs you think you might want to join.

There will be too many booths for you to stop at all of them and too many lists for you to write your brand new email address on, but quality typically tops quantity, and this is especially true for Quad Day.

If you find something you’re interested in, take the time to talk to the students running the booth and get a better idea of what it’s about. Then you’ll have a better idea of whether you actually want to take the time out of your first few weeks of college to sit in introductory meetings (that will probably offer free pizza) with a bunch of people you have never met before.

Maybe you don’t think you need to join any clubs. That’s fine, then just go to Quad Day for the “people watching” side of it. There will be dudes in Speedos repping the the water polo club, people practicing martial arts and multiple different dance troupes fighting for your attention as you pass them by.

I remember feigning interest in joining a sorority at the Greek life booths behind Foellinger (so technically not on the Main Quad) with my freshman year roommate. This was all for a cheap pair of sunglasses, but we were also surprised to find multiple fraternity house puppies sitting in the shade of booths at the time. Definitely a win-win. Neither my roommate nor I joined a sorority, but that’s the beauty of Quad Day — you aren’t required to commit to anything.

Take the hike out to Quad Day, even if it is just for a free pair of sunglasses from a sorority you won’t rush because you never know what you’ll find or who you’ll meet.

Jessica is a junior in Media.
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