Being a senior kinda rocks.

Ah, FDOC™. What a time to be alive. For all the freshpeople new to campus, I hope you had a hectic but exciting time rushing from class to class, getting lost in Milstein searching for your class in “MIL,” and meeting all of the try-hards in your Lit Hum. As for you sophomores and juniors, I’m sorry that you had to attend five back-to-back classes and probably learned that you’ll be getting off of zero waitlists. May you see better days ahead.

But as a senior, my FDOC was actually the most relaxing day I’ve ever had at this godforsaken institution. With zero waitlisted classes, I was finally able to give zero fucks about the start of the school year. Sure, I need to start writing my grad school applications. Yes, I should probably start reading for my seminars before they bury me alive. But for just one day, I told myself, I do not care.

Maybe this wasn’t a universal experience for all of my fellow seniors, but for all of you non-seniors, I implore you to aspire to my level of relaxation when you age to the point of not needing to worry about getting into Science of Psych or the undergrad version of Biochemistry with the professor that is equally as evil as the graduate-level one. Not giving a shit on the first day is so much better than getting yourself worked up over how you’ll make it from the International Affairs Building to Milbank in ten minutes.

So, in that spirit, I give you the highlights of my LFDOC as inspiration for your own in that glorious final year of being a student here:

• 12 to 3 am: Set up dorm room. I had a late start to moving onto campus, but I used all of the time I had over the final weekend of freedom to hang with friends and do as I pleased. Trust me, your dorm room decor can wait a few days, and you can lose some sleep setting up the new place. Your walls are not as important as your friends.
• 10:50 am: Rolled out of bed after snoozing several alarms. I don’t have a single morning class scheduled this semester, and I could not be convinced to shop one “just in case” I hate the classes I’m in. Skip the 8:40s (and maybe even 10:10s if you can) and ease into your FDOC. 
• 12:30 pm: Went for a walk to my old place of employment. I let myself indulge in a bit of nostalgia and take a trip down memory lane to when I was young and full of hope. Try it… It’ll age you!
• 2:10 pm: Rolled up to my only class of the day exactly on time. Look, life is precious. Don’t waste it sitting in a classroom 15 minutes early just so you can kiss the professor’s ass or get the comfiest seat or whatever. 
• 3:10 pm: Left my only class of the day nearly an hour early because the professor is a badass who doesn’t waste our time by dragging out her speeches. Get yourself a professor like mine who isn’t going to make you do 20 icebreakers or discuss a 100-page reading on day 1. (I know this can be major-specific, but, like, try?)
• 3:45 pm: Bought a sweet treat from Hungarian with a friend. I was in awe over how empty this beloved treasure of a cafe was and instinctively thought Wow, this would be a great time to come here to study. And then I immediately shut down that thought. FDOC is not for working, no matter how cozy the environment may be. Fight the urge, folks.
• 4:15 pm: Swam at the new Gottesman Pool in Central Park. This was the most random side quest of the day by far, but my friend and I thought it would be hilarious to have a pool party while all of you suckers were furiously taking notes and trying to calculate how many people could possibly be ahead of you on the Instructor-Managed Waitlist. 10/10 recommend doing one semi- to batshit-insane activity on FDOC, just for shits and giggles. 
• 7:00 pm: Ate dinner with friends and reminisced on our first year of college. Again, conjuring up memories of your first (probably horrible) days at Barnumbia can be a sweet way to commemorate the start of the end of college!
• 9 to 11 pm: Called my best friend from home. Even though classes might be done for the day, still resist your tendency to open Canvas or check your email to get ahead for the next day. Do something calming—and completely and utterly unrelated to academics and professional development. Show yourself some love on this LFDOC… If you’ve made it this far, you deserve it!

Swimming via Wikimedia Commons