As the fall semester winds down, first-year halls across campus are descending into crisis. It’s the time of year when first-years look around at their hallmates and realize they actually have nothing in common. Yes, these are the people they have been clinging to in an effort to have someone to sit with in Bostwick Marketplace and a good “ratio” for going out on the weekends. Assuming that within the span of three months they would have as many close friends as they did in high school, first-years are sent into existential crises as they realize that they somehow have not met this expectation.

“My hall and I are really close. We go out all the time. Nick lets us all use his printer, and I always borrow Michelle’s clothes … sometimes without asking,” Katherine Vedder-NorthEast ’20 said with a laugh.

However, when asked what she has in common with her hallmates, Vedder-NorthEast had a hard time coming up with an answer.

“Well, um, a lot of us are from New Jersey … Oh! And Mark knows this kid from my hometown. Crazy, right?” Vedder-NorthEast said.

Regardless of their lack of connections, first-year halls seem to be bonded by sheer proximity. Many first-years, while realizing that they may not have a lot in common with their hallmates, choose to remain friends instead of venturing to other, unknown halls. Refusing to let go of their new 20 or so neighbors, first-years prove that there is safety, and perhaps friendship, in numbers.