Hello! Just wondering but I have a lot of other stuff to do during what would be frosh week, (such as shopping for supplies, getting my Tcard etc etc), and I was wondering if I should register for frosh week regardless? Will I be able to do both/get my “money’s worth”? Thanks ^^
———————————————
hey there,
as a long-time grump and misanthrope, i can testify that frosh week can be fun – even for people like me. it takes some doing to make me enjoy an event like orientation, which is loud, busy, and crowded. however, cheesy as it may sound, it’s a great opportunity to make friends. this is especially true if you won’t be living in residence and won’t have as much of an opportunity to meet new people.
also, orientation (when done right) is a positive experience, and those don’t come often around here. there is an incredible pessimism about university, especially at uoft. while you are in it, it’s difficult, you’re often in over your head, and you want it to be over as soon as possible. this feeling is amplified by the thousands of students around you – in your classes, in your friend group, on facebook – who feel the same way. orientation week is a way to kick off four years of pessimism with a joie-de-vivre that is pretty difficult to conjure up once school actually begins. and that enthusiasm, as hokey as it may seem in the moment, makes a difference.
if i can’t get you with the emotional argument, there are a lot of practical positives to orientation as well: it helps you get familiar with campus, there are relevant info sessions as well as (largely irrelevant) fun activities, and you can ask questions of your frosh leaders, who are upper year students that actually want to give you advice!*
and finally: you will have plenty of time to get your TCard, buy textbooks, and do everything else you need to do even if you participate in frosh week.
all that being said, if it still sounds like something you just don’t want to do, then hey, you don’t have to! orientation is just one week. you have four years of decisions ahead of you, so you may as well start off on the right foot by making a decision that you are comfortable with. do you.
i hope that helps!
aska
* outside of orientation, this is rare. most people just want you to stay out of their face as they try to get through lecture on three hours of sleep.
