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As part of two new orientation week initiatives, freshman watched a video and were offered to attend an optional series of discussions in order to expose them to the reality of college life. 

The class of 2014 is larger and has fewer international students than previous years. 

While resisting the temptation to slack off and cut corners can at times be an impossible task, gaining a little knowledge is a key component of the college experience.

For all the tips, tricks and advice you young freshmen are undeniably being bombarded with in anticipation of your move to East Hill, it will ultimately be up to each of you to make Cornell your own. 

Congratulations, you shining beacon of good grades, better board scores and obnoxiously impressive extracurricular activities: You’ve made it to Cornell, the Ben Affleck of the Ivy League! Now that you’re on your way to Ithaca — also known as the Middle of Nowhere — you’ll need a guide to keep you safe from all the crazy townies, fratty upperclassmen and irritatingly punctilious R.A.s.

When Kenneth Glover, the veteran Ujamaa housing director, was abruptly reassigned to another dormitory this summer, backlash from the Cornell community reflected overwhelming support for Glover and his community-building initiatives within the residential college. Many saw the move as an attack on Ujamaa, which was established in 1972 to foster and promote black heritage at the University, and the outcry prompted the administration to temporarily reinstate Glover’s position for a year.

Freshman year can be rough. Everyone experiences some form of severe discomfort during this first baby step towards adulthood. My big hurdle happened to come pretty early on.

I awoke the third day of Orientation after my first night of debauchery at a frat party. I felt a wonderful mixture of discoordination and comfortable grogginess. College was going to be sweet.

Freshman: you’re a virgin. I’m a virgin to this whole column business. We have a lot in common. As a sophomore, I am infinitely older and infinitely wiser than the masses of you that have been storming campus since last Friday. You’re probably homesick, most likely lost and definitely out of your element. Not that I was ever in that position. But I can imagine what it must feel like.

Since I’m a pretty generous person, all things considered, I thought I’d christen this new column with a little spattering of advice for the otherwise clueless 4,000 students that will be aimlessly confined to their dorm rooms, cafeteria of choice and the Cornell Store, because that’s all there really is to see in Ithaca, right? Well, almost.

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.