Issue date: 8/25/09 Section: Opinions

Please allow me to impart some of the knowledge I've gained over the past four years to you new freshmen out there.

Do:

• Go to class but learn to live with missing a couple. It happens.

• Get to know some of your professors on a personal level. I am not sure when it happened but some genius decided to trick a large number of outstanding people to come to Eastern to teach. I literally cannot remember a single lesson taught by some of the professors but they have taught me so much outside of class that I feel the education I received is invaluable.

Then again, there are some real subpar teachers out there, too - avoid them like the plague.

• Get involved on campus in some form. Join one of the gazillion RSO's or create your own. Look into the Greek system.

• Attend Panther athletics. They are amazing. While they may not offer annual national championship contenders, they are very enjoyable to watch.

Not to mention free to watch. And don't think that no one goes to these games, we do. Attendance has been up lately, which leads me to...

• Join Panther Nation.

• Learn to love the fight song. I cannot describe how excited I get when I hear the fight song after four years of touchdowns and home wins.

• Side note for all you noobs - The football team has rushed toward the student section after games and sang the fight song to the students for the past few seasons and that is pretty cool.

•Support local businesses. It feels good to help out the mom and pop.

Don't:

• Pack up and leave just because it's the weekend. Eastern is not a suitcase campus and your family/friends/pets will still be there when Thanksgiving and winter break roll around.

• Jump in any of the ponds around campus. Trust me on this one, it's just not a good idea.

• Waste your meal swipes or dining dollars early in the semester. You will get hungry some time and you will be regretting those Bosco sticks when you do.

• Procrastinate. That makes me a real hypocrite, because I pretty much always wait until the last minute to do anything. But pulling all-nighters sucks and it sucks harder when you pull them often.

• Hate on someone just because they are Greek or a GDI (or a goddamn independant). They are people, too.

• Piss off your roommate/floormates. They are the closest thing to family you have here (unless you actually have family here) and will be there when you need them, unless you ate their food or are a nasty pig to live with.

I am sure there is a lot I am forgetting but one last piece of advice: Love the hell out of this school. Eastern will provide you with an outstanding education and many fond memories that may or may not be hazier than you like.

We are what makes EIU so amazing.

Eric Hiltner is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or at denopinions@gmail.com.

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