As a wise senior, I’ve been tasked with advising you naive freshmen on what to expect in your first year at the best college in the country. But how do I detail everything you need to know about Northwestern in just 600 words? It might be helpful to describe some of the mistakes, large and small, I made during my freshman year.

• “Joining” a fraternity. After weeks of attending weekly fraternity dinners for the free food, I somehow found myself offered a bid to join one (I’m not naming the fraternity to protect the reputation of both it and me). I have no idea why I accepted the bid. But I was too chicken to tell them I didn’t really want to go through with it, so for awhile I participated in events, not paying the dues and keeping a low profile in hopes they would forget about me. Six weeks later, the awkward relationship thankfully ended with my withdrawal. I would seriously not advise you to handle Greek life this way.

• That one time I forgot to take my popcorn out of the microwave. To all 2007-08 residents of 1835 Hinman, I apologize for making you all stand outside in the cold at 2 a.m. Those dorm microwaves are tricky.

• My involvement at The Daily Northwestern. Didn’t see that one coming, did you? No, I’m not trying to discourage you from joining our staff (and now would be a great time to mention that we’re currently looking for writers, bloggers, photographers, videographers, Web producers, designers and copy editors…). But I might advise against what I did – joining the first day of the year and putting in a ridiculous number of hours immediately. Instead, I’d recommend viewing NU student groups the same way as love interests: Casual at first; save the commitments for junior year.

• The striped polo I wore every day. Okay, I didn’t actually wear the same shirt every single day of freshman year. But I did essentially wear a different version of the same striped polo each day. Either way, it was embarrassing.

• My flimsy winter coat. For those of you living under a rock, Chicago winters can be pretty brutal, and it certainly was my freshman year. I had only brought a gray fleece jacket that I figured could work for both the fall and winter (another reflection of my great fashion sense). Getting teased only strengthened my resolve to make it through without buying a heavier coast, but it was a long few months.

• Under-utilizing our neighbor to the south. Chicago is a diverse, vibrant and beautiful city. But in my entire freshman year, I only traveled the short distance to the city once (Maybe I never went back because the first trip was such a disaster – a few friends and I went to ESPNZone to watch an away NU football game and the ESPNZone people refused to put on the game on any of their 20 TV’s, so we had to watch Notre Dame, who I hate…)

I could go on, but I think you guys have heard enough. The truth is that detailing those mistakes was more about me reliving my freshman year than imparting any wisdom: You probably won’t make any of the mistakes I made my freshman year.

On the other hand, you will make other mistakes (yes, even you). But that’s the point. I don’t need to tell you that college is different than anything you’ve done until now. All kinds of new experiences are ahead of you. It can be intimidating, and you’re bound to stumble a bit along the way. But for it to be meaningful, you have to make your own mistakes and figure it out as you go.

If it makes you feel better, we were all there once. Some day you too will look back at freshman year and laugh at everything you did wrong. And trust me, it’ll be funny.

But seriously, be careful with those microwaves.

Brian Rosenthal is the Editor in Chief of The Daily Northwestern and a Medill senior. He can be reached at [email protected].

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the freshman orientation issue, an annual publication mailed to all incoming freshman by The Daily Northwestern that is intended to prepare new students for their first year at Northwestern.A small number of the orientation issue articles, including this one, are being printed online for the benefit of international and returning students. During the school year, all articles that appear in the print Daily Northwestern are published on the website, along with several types of online-only content.