Without a doubt, Frosh week was a test. I’m not talking about the ELPE that we had to write Wednesday morning at the PAC. (Was I the only one who realized that the date writing instructions didn’t match the example that followed?) On the contrary, the test was impressing EDCOM. Got that? Looking back the HEADCOM/EDCOM/Super Huges/Huges/Bigs created the ultimate life exam for us naive frosh. I mean even before we followed the bright coloured string to HQ that Tuesday morning the test had already begun: think back to packing, saying goodbyes to friends and family, arriving, moving in and meeting your floor mates. I probably met and forgot the names of a hundred people in the first 24 hrs. (I am apologizing en masse for all the names that I mixed up and the faces that I didn’t recognize.)
When I finally got to the Light Brown HQ (Savannah) everyone was pumped and the room was full of energy. HQ looked great; the leaders were costumed, animal paintings were on the walls and our fragile but EPIC elephant looked adorable. (Thank you Light Brown Bigs and Huges.) Learning the frosh version of Godiva’s Hymn livened up even the shyest of the frosh. EDCOM 2010 made a smashin’ debut during the intro video after Meet the Dean. Neither the computer nor the hundreds of frosh in the room saw that coming.
The faculty lunch, which followed the morning events, tasted a little sketchy but that was a small matter compared to how fun it was to meet with other ECE frosh. After lunch we all headed out to earn our yellow hardhats by impressing EDCOM and participating in various activities. Damn the hole in the carpet during ramp building. :@ Who knew so many people could fit in one minivan? The aerial photo was crowded but surprisingly very well organized. While crammed between rows, I got a chance to talk to people on my team that I hadn’t yet met.
After that first day, everything just began to blur. I went to Boars, Tools and Ties with a girl from my residence in Environmental Engineering and we ended up in a non-moving line for cotton candy. After that we thought it would be a good idea to go to speed meeting upstairs. We ended up getting pretty good seats because we were on the side that didn’t move. At some point in the hour and a half we were there we realized what the chances that we were going to re-meet these people were quite slim. Despite this we had fun and nonetheless we continued to meet people until the activity closed and my ears were ringing.
The next morning, I purpled myself. It was a complicated but fun adventure and by the end of it I was purple from head to toe, except for a couple of forgotten spots here and there. Showing up purple to breakfast was an interesting experience; I accidentally left fingerprints all over the cutlery. I then began on my quest to prevent accidentally purpling residence. My stuff, on the other hand, didn’t get as lucky. :S
Junkyard Wars was epic. Watching Light Brown’s Rube Goldberg dominate was awesome. The pulley mechanism worked, unleashing the shot glass tire combination which knocked over the door crushing junk, finishing with a light going off definitely impressed EDCOM. Delivering Light Brown’s mascot to EDCOM was slightly terrifying. I was scarred for life when our giraffe succumbed to EDCOM. In the end it made sense that the TOOL is total DOMINATION. Only about 1604 days till IRS class of 2015!
My mom came to drop of some cables on Saturday and she was standing in front of CPH when I saw her. I’m sure luck wasn’t on my side because she was standing outside EDCOM HQ and it took her five minutes and the removal of my hard hat for her to identify me. She just laughed for a good ten minutes when EDCOM interrupted via megaphone with “Put your hardhat back on frosh.” Needless to say, mom continued to laugh as I got scolded for not putting it back on properly.
I’m going to skip to Scavenger Hunt which in my opinion was the most enjoyable event of the week. OmNomCom made their debut speaking in a language I could only wish I could understand. Variety meant everyone always had something to do. So much individual talent was put on display. Giant Frisbee was difficult because no one could see and the grass was wet. While teams were waiting to play we did our best to entertain EDCOM. I learned quite a bit from that experience. EDCOM explained to frosh that the environmental science students found their mascot in a dumpster. Other lessons learned include the antonym for phone is pinecone. We made EDCOM laugh beneath their kerchiefs when teams began singing songs censored EDCOM. After spending the rest of the night delivering barely passable acquisitions to EDCOM I returned to HQ to watch Light Brown put on a phenomenal show for EDCOM. Too bad our lion got castrated.
Closing Ceremonies, the finale of the week, was legendary. While we waited for everyone to file in we played “What does EDCOM like?” Successful propositions included Don’t Stop Believing, WEEF, Pop Rocks, BOAT Racing. The most notable shut down was to the guy who stood up and asked if EDCOM liked crushing the hopes and dreams of the frosh. EDCOM’s reply was aww-worthy. The frosh were then able to thank all the leaders that made UW ENG FROSH so special. When EDCOM announced Light Brown as the winner of Scavenger Hunt and our team went wild. I don’t think any of us really expected that we would come out on top.
Frosh week will probably go down as one of the most memorable weeks of my life. I made so many new friends and tried many new things. Those of us who made it through the week have passed the first of many tests that will come our way. I’d like to thank all of the Frosh Leaders again for their hard work and patience with the frosh. I hope that next year’s first years have as much fun as I did this year.
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