Staff Rants
On Getting Rejected from Events
By Sam Brinton, Copy Chief
My Welcome Week experience can be summed up by long waits and longer-lasting disappointments. For instance, my friends and I waited an hour and a half for Drag Bingo. I was thrilled when we finally arrived at the front of the line, only to be told that they had underestimated the turnout and that there was no space left for us. This exact situation happened to me twice more. Of course, all I saw on social media was how fun and wonderful these events were. Most of the people with me on those fateful nights are still my friends — yes, they actually didn’t ghost me after Welcome Week. But that’s probably because the feelings of disappointment and rejection brought us together.
On Taking Things Seriously
By Ethan Zack, Music Editor
The Welcome Week Reality Show foils its own well-intentioned goals due to its unrelentingly cheery approach to serious problems. Sure, each of the musical numbers address very important social and cultural issues, but the lighthearted tone of the whole production reduces the serious connotations that issues like discrimination and negative mental health should carry. At the end of the show, it feels like not much has been done to change anyone’s minds. People who agree with the show’s points will continue on as they did before, while dissenters will simply mock the program and its air of campiness. As it stands, the Reality Show features some stellar talent and integral messages, but the way it approaches its own subject matter should be reconsidered.
On Exhaustion
By Anna-Dmitry Muratova, Under the Arch Senior Editor
I don’t think I’ve ever been more tired during my time at NYU than throughout my first-year Welcome Week. It made me want to go into a very, very, very long hibernation. Honestly, students should get at least a couple of days off (fully off, no events or anything) after they’re done with their Welcome Week. It’s a wild experience, and the amount of information one needs to process during it — how do I put it? It’s hard to process, even for a computer (I assume, not that I know much about technology).
On the Stress of Being a Welcome Week Leader
Alex Johnson, Deputy News Editor
Each year, Welcome Week fills me with a multitude of emotions. As a first-year, the excitement of Bed, Bath and Beyond After Dark, the Acapella Show and Starball made me look forward to my first year apart from my family. These spaces gave me the opportunity to meet my best friends at the university, and they were the reason I applied for a Welcome Week Leader position the semester after. As an incoming sophomore, the long hours of training, forced high-energy levels and last-minute schedule changes dampened the excitement of Welcome Week. Can’t forget to mention that the loss of my voice and not getting paid also attributed to my discontent with the experience. With all of the work Welcome Week Leaders contribute to the overall experience of greeting each incoming class, the least NYU could do is pay them an hourly wage. And no, housing is not enough.
Staff Raves
On Nostalgia
By Bela Kirpalani, Sports Editor
I am a senior, so allow me to put on my rose-colored glasses for a moment. Ah yes, Welcome Week. A simpler time. I remember cheerily wandering around Washington Square Park, having the time of my life at the silent rave and losing all sense of time. While some may get disgruntled at the slow-moving swarms of NYU first-years with lanyards swinging from their necks or the frighteningly peppy Welcome Week Leaders, I will always remember Welcome Week as that point in time where I had literally no responsibilities and was basking in all my newfound freedom. What a concept.
On Kindness (and Merch)
By Diya Jain, Deputy Opinion Editor
Some of my closest friends (and boyfriend) are people I met at Welcome Week. Although some students find the enthusiasm over-the-top and the forced interactions awkward, as an international student, I found the bubbliness warm and, well, welcoming. I didn’t actually go to a lot of events, but I appreciated the time to meet new people and explore the campus. Getting free NYU stuff was a definite perk. I would love to cancel classes and do Welcome Week all over again. And take more free stuff.
Opinions expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of WSN, and our publication of opinions is not an endorsement of them.
Email WSN Staff at [email protected].
