NSOP mission #1: find four cans of paint and splatter them on the ground.

NSOP is just two weeks from now! If you haven’t heard, this year’s theme is NSOP Out Loud. If the NSOP Committee’s promo video is any indication, first-years will be expected to take a bunch of Snapchat videos, hopefully making friends along the way.

Undergraduate Student Life released the schedules for all undergraduate NSOP’s this week. Barnard’s Guidebook is here, CC & SEAS can find their schedule here, and GS’s supplementary material is here. With the schedules so full, we want to highlight some of the exciting (and non-mandatory) events available to first-years. What should you do during NSOP?

• This year’s NYC Event is Take Me Out to the Ballgame on Thursday night. This collective NSOP outing will let you spend some time with your new friends and force you to awkwardly explain to your Orientation Leader how you bought that beer you’re drinking. The New York Mets will host the Miami Marlins at Citi Field in Queens, so you should allot an hour to travel via the 1/2/3 and 7 trains. Columbia will host a tailgate party in the parking lot, and the first 1,000 students there will get to be on the field before the game. If you’re a sports fan, or if you’ve never witnessed the American Pastime, go out with the Class of 2020 on Thursday.
• The EcoReps Green Sale goes on twice during NSOP, 9 am-4 pm on Thursday, August 31st and Monday, September 5th. If you need a fridge, a fan, some hangers, some art, or anything else for your dorm room, the Green Sale is a fantastic option. Everything sold by EcoReps was collected at the end of the last school year, and most prices are either low or negotiable. If you want to do some shopping in Wien Lounge, we suggest going on Thursday. If you wait until Monday, you’ll be fighting with all of the returning students. (Pro Tip: If you wait until 3 pm on Monday, EcoReps will start giving away whatever’s left for free!)
• If you want to feel intellectual early, consider the #BarnardReads series. All week, Barnard professors will lead discussions based on books, plays, and TED Talks. These one-hour sessions in Sulzberger Parlor of Barnard Hall include topics such as “Can creativity save us?” and “How and why have feminists participated in Occupy Wall Street and #BlackLivesMatter?” NSOP asks that students interested in these discussions familiarize themselves with the material before arriving (just like for any other class). For more information, check out the Barnard First Year Blog.
• Between Saturday and Sunday, NSOP will offer thirteen Neighborhood Tours to show you around New York City. If you want some good food, load up your Metrocard and take the Just Desserts or Cheap Eats tours downtown. For gorgeous views, consider the Brooklyn Bridge Night Tour, the Chelsea and Highline Tour, or the Central Park Photography Tour. If you want to spend a whole day out, the Coney Island Beach Day could be for you. That weekend is light on programming, so try to get out and see the city you wrote so much about on your college essays!
• Make sure you go to the Activities Fairs! Both of them are from 12-4 pm during the first week of school–Barnard’s is on Wednesday and Columbia’s is on Friday. Hundreds of student groups will table and attempt to court you with free candy in order to get you onto their interest listservs. This is the best place to learn about clubs and find your new extracurriculars. At the very least, you’ll come away with a few extra stickers for your laptop.