Opinions
Stop Segregation Class
By Michael Natalie Opinions Editor
Freshman, sophomore, junior, senior. All of these words, especially the first, call up particular associations. Freshmen frequently are associated with naiveté, inflated expectations— be it of the college party scene or of their career prospects—and obnoxious behavior. A senior friend of mine and I recently spotted some property damage in his Mod. What were the first words out of his mouth? “I knew I shouldn’t have let those freshmen in, no respect for other people’s property.” The stereotype is not without some truth— after all, settling into a new environment makes for all kinds of awkward social interactions—but hearing someone immediately make such a negative assumption about one-quarter of our student body was a bit upsetting to say the least. Of course, most freshmen aren’t like this, and Gavel Media has already run articles picking apart those particular stereotypes. But our particular preconceived notions about other classes, the very idea of class labels, can be damaging. They encourage a sense of camaraderie with one’s own class at the expense of potential friendships between classes. Generally, college students’ ages range from eighteen to twenty-two. 30
Don’t let your graduating class define your relationships.
Four years may seem like a long time and college is a time of intense emotional and intellectual development. Yet, when compared to the preceding four years of high school the changes we undergo are relatively small. Furthermore, we all develop in different ways and at different rates. I have
Photo courtesy of Sportskido8/Flickr
seen freshmen with more maturity than seniors. Is it a common occurrence? No, but the point stands. One cannot and should not assume that Boston College’s youngest students are less intelligent, mature, or developed than their older counterparts. I’m guilty of making this assumption too. I have underclassmen friends and I frequently find myself presum-
ing to advise them. Whenever they mention something academically or socially related (read: most college conversations), I find myself tossing in my two cents with the general understanding that it’s valuable advice. I assume that the person in question wouldn’t reach that conclusion themselves, even if it’s something as obvious as “You shouldn’t do that paper in one night” or “freshmen aren’t typically welcome in the Mods.” They mostly smile and nod, but I can’t help but think they wish I’d get off of my high horse. Even here at Gavel Media, as an editor, I find I frequently have to stop myself from talking down to my underclassmen writers. I can only imagine it’s annoying; after all, I was annoyed by it when older students did it to me. I don’t mean to implicate all juniors and seniors in my self-critique, but based on what I’ve observed, this “been there, done that” attitude is quite common. I do not mean to assert that one should never give or accept advice. When I was a freshman, I found myself incensed at one particular piece of advice I got from an older student. He said to get used to the occasional bad grade, because an “A” effort in high school is, for the most part, about a “B” or a “C” effort in college. I was not the valedictorian at my high school,
May 2013