A little over a year ago, I gave a commencement speech to my fellow graduating high school seniors about change — the mysterious force that we’ve been bred to simultaneously fear and crave ever so desperately. I stood pompously at the podium, urging my classmates to conquer their fears, step out of their comfort zones, and take full advantage of the blank slate before them.

Rising sophomores will now be the first to choose on-campus housing each spring, after President David Skorton approved the Student Assembly’s Resolution 13 last week. Currently, rising seniors are given the priority in the housing lottery, so they pick housing on the first day of selection. Rising juniors choose on the second day, and rising sophomores choose last. Beginning in spring 2011, this order will be reversed.

Should seniors still be hooking up with freshmen? See what A and Z think.

Writing this column forced me to revisit my freshman-year self. Ladies and Gents, it wasn’t pretty. I was bombarded with images I’m loath to remember — of intrepid introductions at the ice cream social … of panicked phone calls home about language requirements … of a particularly tight and lacy brown tank top that made a brazen debut at an Arts & Sciences requirements meeting.

Moms and dads, stay with me.

My point is simply that while I’m hopelessly nostalgic for the bygone days of college (I graduated in May), I don’t look back at orientation week through rose-colored glasses.