Freshmen: Annual Awkwardness

A massive assemblage of bodies parades down the hall, generating a clamor of cacophony with their jarring voices. There is no denying it; they’re freshmen. Every year, they scuttle off the buses and hesitantly make their way inside the building. Glancing at their maps and peering around nervously, these cattle-like beings saunter aimlessly until they locate the rest of the herd. At this point, they attach themselves to the flock and replace their tense attitude with one of overconfidence.
This phenomenon is a psychological tendency. Huddled in groups, the freshmen feign strength and self-assurance. In reality, this clump provides protection from the scornful eyes of the upper-classmen. When one follower breaks off the group, his demeanor is drastically altered. He is no longer the brazen individual who hollers his thoughts so everybody can hear them; instead, he silently scuffles towards his class, avoiding eye contact at all costs.
It’s understandable that the school’s new entrants would want to fit in. However, it is because their behavior is so blatantly dramatized that their objective is not fulfilled. Instead of joining the ranks of the experienced upper-classmen, the freshmen are categorized as an entirely separate group. Identifying students who belong to this group is a simple process, for no matter how hard they try to hide the fact that they are freshmen, their clustering technique and panicked mien gives it away.
They wear typical attire. Baggy dark blue jeans, stained and ripped. Hollister, Abercrombie, American Eagle t-shirts and button-ups, often striped. Scuffed shoes. Their height also follows a noticeable trend. The notion that every year the freshmen get shorter is seemingly accurate; this year’s newcomers outdid their predecessors and extend barely over five feet. Either the theory is true, or those already attending have grown in height, creating the illusion that freshmen are undersized.
Eventually, though, anxiety diminishes and revised attitudes and behaviors are adopted. By this time, the freshmen are the sophomores and the next wave of newbies arrives. The cyclical system will continue to repeat by nature; that is an unavoidable truth. The freshman disposition is not unreasonable, however. New experiences can be intimidating, and time is all that you need to adjust to your altered surroundings.