OPINION & EDITORIAL
Past, present collegiate friendships
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Also by Lindsay Zuckerman:
- Graduation's approach brings insight (April 5, 2005)
- Greek life can be positive, too (April 12, 2005)
- Cell phone etiquette checkup (April 26, 2005)
- Past, present collegiate friendships (March 15, 2005)
- A spring break phenomenon (March 8, 2005)
Related Stories:
- So, do you want to make out with me? (January 17, 2005)
- When classes end, friends will remain (February 17, 2005)
- College strains old friendships (November 28, 2006)
- The Badger Herald online will resume daily publication on Sept. 4 (August 23, 2001)
- Class, gym, shower, out (February 1, 2005)
by Lindsay Zuckerman
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
As a senior, one would think by now you have your friends, your lifestyle at school, your regular routine of the daily grind and the occasional venturing out of your normal realm and schedule of what you do.
One thing I have forgotten about was the new friendships that develop during senior year. It’s humorous yet common how freshmen girls flee from guys their own age — jumping to make friends with sophomores, juniors and seniors, and leaving peers in the dust. Not that guys and girls in the same age group aren’t ever friends, but it just seems that younger girls want to be friends with older guys and older guys want to be friends with younger girls. Both likely have different reasons and motivations.
So after three years of being at the same school, running in the same circles with the same people, it’s now the end. What’s most interesting to me is the fact that freshman year it seemed as if everyone was more closed off to making friends, enlarging groups of friends and socializing with people their own age. Then it didn’t seem like such a big deal. But now it’s sad that it’s senior year I’m only still meeting some people for the first time.
One of my closest guy friends in high school always told me that he couldn’t wait until I was a senior girl and in a so-called “rut” — where the guys that we had “ignored” (or so they had claimed) for all of high school were now seniors and now it was their turn to revel in their own glory because they were the older ones and everyone younger would look up to them.
What I think really happens is that while senior guys may be “making friends” with younger girls — rather, preying on them (in a nice way, of course), they are really making friends with girls their own age for the first time. I know this isn’t an isolated point, because I’ve heard numerous people mention this before. It’s natural, in a way, that these occurrences take place in a sequential order.
My girlfriends and I were talking about what school would be like this year, on our own. Apprehensive at first, we were pleasantly surprised as to how much fun we were having and how much fun we had possibly missed out on in the past few years by not branching out enough. Now it has become apparent that while we have mixed emotions regarding graduation, there are even more making it harder to leave Madison. When in the working world is it ok to stay up until 4 a.m. dancing around an apartment just for fun? I don’t think many guys in suits are doing this after a long hard day at Goldman Sachs.
So the most important lesson I can take away from all of these learning experiences that take place every day is to live it up while you can. In a sane way, if possible. Enjoy everyone you meet, from all different places with different interests, backgrounds, hobbies and the like. It’s a once in a lifetime experience and it’s almost done before you know it. And some of these experiences you’ll never have the chance to do again.
Lindsay Zuckerman (lzuckerman@badgerherald.com) is a senior majoring in journalism.
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 6:39am):
Who the hell greenlights this crap? And furthermore, where the hell are the comments for other stories? I notice they're conspicuously absent from articles that *gasp* might provoke some heated discussion. Boo-urns.
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 7:49am):
Yeah, freshman guys and senior gals are screwed (or not as the case may be).
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 8:48am):
indeed. that test thief story was a real blood boiler! it must take a huge tool to get nabbed stealing an exam for someone else! ahhhhahahahahaahah
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 9:32am):
The only solution: senior girls should hit on freshman guys. Think how that screws up the societal standards! Stick it to the man, girls!
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 10:03am):
Are we still in high school? Since when has anyone really cared about what "grade" you were in? If that's the case, then the seniors can just get with the 5th, 6th, and 7th year seniors, or grad students. Sheesh
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 11:15am):
Wow! What an insightful, important, and inspiring article! Now if only I could get those few minutes of my life back I spent reading it.
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 11:18am):
Jesus, what member of the Sorority Mafia has a gun to the head of editor of this rag? No other explanation exists for the blather that comes out this girl's mouth, or the fact that it even gets printed on the page here. I feel like I'm actually reading the brain of those vapid bulimics toiling down Langdon...and it's making me stupider!
Aww, the senior boys are preying on the freshman girls (in a nice way!). No they're not! They're date rapin' and screwin', HPV givin' motherfuckers sick of your whiny voice and attitude, they don't have a job, but just enough drugs to entice a stupid 18 year old who wants to impress her friends with her boytoy who is old enough to drink. That 18 year old doesn't care that your 4-Runner has a huge dent in it from that night you drove drunk and hit that Asian kid on his bike. Too bad for that kid, you hope he's ok, but hey, you've got a blowjob from a Kappa Kappa Gamma to get!
Come on...seniors! Seniors! Who actually defines themselves in college as a "freshman", etc? How old are you Lindsay Zuckerman? You are singlehandedly putting back the feminist movement with every word you type.
Ugh, I feel sick. I'm just going to go coat some toast with ketchup (see then it comes up easier, also if you alternate it with Ranch, then you get this layer effect, and you know how far down you've gone and how many more times you have to puke before you get back into swimsuit shape!) Besides, it's almost spring break and I have to make sure that I'm all hot for the casual sex with beefcake retards with whiskey dick (or coke dick) that I'm going to totally make out with (wink wink!) at Cabo!
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 12:17pm):
I can't believe I spent two minutes of my life skimming this drivel. Why does the Herald waste valuable space on this kind of brainless fluff?
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 12:21pm):
wow that was the funniest anti-zuckerman diatribe i've read yet. hear hear! amen! YES! still i don't doubt the poster was quite serious...
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 12:28pm):
Holy crap. That was the most venomous and well articulated hateful message board comment I've ever read. Sheesh. I feel like someone needs to ice their ego. That was a knockout blow. What's up with this column? It's like the back of a yearbook for the socially adept. Where's the 2good + 2B=4gotten? Or BFF? Golly, anonymous poster, you should include a name and use this for your resume. Hateful. Lovely.
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 12:58pm):
10 points for using vapid correctly in a sentence.
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 1:00pm):
Hate hate hate hate. Bucknasty and Beautiful would be proud. Hit me baby!
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 1:15pm):
Lindsay, you suck. Next time you write an article, try to make it interesting to the reader. You should grow out your beard as to conseal your identity. Then maybe people would find you interesting.
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 1:16pm):
...also, any HPV reference is brilliant. How do you spell it in it's full form? Someone has a prescription. Please help me. Seniors help me out.
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 1:19pm):
"The only solution: senior girls should hit on freshman guys."
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Senior girls should hit on grad student guys. They're much smarter and sexier than any undergrad.
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 2:24pm):
wow..when you look in the "also by Lindsey Zuckerman list you can see that this is just the latest of the many pertinant and important issues she has covered recently. Spring Break. The Facebook. Her friends. way to stretch our minds writing about such enlightening topics
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 2:42pm):
If a grad school guy is still single, there's probably a good reason for that. Besides, who says girls can't have boy toys?
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 4:23pm):
Nothing says "I love you" like Human Papilloma Virus.
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 5:29pm):
If a grad school guy is still single, there's probably a good reason for that.
He's probably a crippled midget...
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 7:44pm):
You are a disgrace to the Jounalism School. I've puked more insightful things than this.
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 7:45pm):
Lindsay,
You're so called "articles" are the biggest pieces of shit I've ever read! You are a disgrace to the school of journalism...whose dick did you suck to get in? Please stop writing your shitty articles, I only feel dumber after reading them. Talk about expanding your horizons and meeting new people...you are THE BITCH of the school and no one likes you. Get rid of your mustache and go call daddy and cry to him. By the way you're not from the east coast and you're not Carrie from Sex and the City so stop pretending you are. No one likes you or your columns.
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 8:17pm):
Zuckerman and Baumgardner should breed.
Haaaaaaahahahahaha :-)
Anonymous (March 15, 2005 @ 8:50pm):
The author is one truly pathetic airhead. Are there no standards left at the Herald? Come on now, this is bullshit.
Anonymous (March 16, 2005 @ 7:34pm):
Shut up! I'd breed with Zuckerman.
Anonymous (April 10, 2005 @ 1:14pm):
The people who take the time to criticize these fun columns are pretty sad. It's too bad they are probably a bunch of losers with nothing better to do, nobody to go out with and just sit at home writing these awful responses.
If you don't like them - skip it. It's a free country and people can write what they want.
Anonymous (April 10, 2005 @ 1:19pm):
Why do all these people spend their time complaining about other peoples articles. Here's a thought -- get a job writing for a paper instead of sitting on your asses pointing out flaws about other people..
Bunch of lazy fools.
Anonymous (February 14, 2006 @ 1:52am):
great
