“So are there fraternities at Bowdoin?” Get ready—people are going to ask you this question over and over during the next four years, and probably long after. There is no Greek life at Bowdoin, and the student handbook explicitly prohibits fraternities and sororities. Bowdoin phased out its co-ed fraternities in the 1990s and the College Houses (or, as they’re more commonly called, social houses) were instituted to replace the Greek system.

There are eight social houses on campus—Ladd, Baxter, Reed, Macmillan (“Mac”), Quinby, Helmreich, Burnett and Howell—and they are primarily inhabited by sophomores.

After much discussion and deliberation, the Office of Residential Life has instituted some substantial changes for the College House system this year. In the new system, each floor of a first year brick is affiliated with a different College House; your friends on the floor below you will be affiliates of a different House and your fellow affiliates will all live in different dorms. (Refer to the inset for a full list of floor and House affiliations.)

• In a long line at the pub, call in and order over the phone to jump the line.• When entering the Coles Tower elevator lobby, use the left door; it’s way faster.• Get on a course’s waiting list before the course cards are even out.• The Café often gives out free leftover food in Smith Union late at night.• Ask for a coffee card at the Café—get it stamped when you buy a coffee and every seventh coffee is free.• You get a discount at the Café for bringing your own reusable mug.• Download the Bowdoin Dining app.• BSG sponsors free Brunswick Taxi rides every weekend night.• We have a radio station, WBOR 91.1 FM.• The water fountain on the second floor of HL (in the staircase) is the best on campus.• If you check out a reserve book an hour before closing, the remaining hour pushes into the next day, so you turn two hours into ten.• Bowdoin has two woodworking shops.• Befriend the shuttle drivers...• ...And the housekeeping and dining staff.• It’s nearly impossible to get transported by drinking beer.• If you’re trying to get into a high-demand class, declare a temporary minor in that subject to get priority.• Make your periods 14-point to instantly lengthen any essay.• Thanksgiving dinner: a) don’t miss it b) arrive very early or very late—the food will still be there. And all         three lines lead to the same spread.• There is only one easy way to get out of the Reed basement, so don’t descend on a crowded night unless         you’re prepared to stay down there for a bit.• Studzinski Hall is not just for music majors.• When applying to social houses, check the box on the application.• Use the computers in the basement of HL, but print upstairs.• Buying Bean Boots, or the equivalent, is a worthwhile investment.• Use your OneCard downtown: Domino’s Pizza, Aki Sushi and Hibachi, Flipside Pizza, Henry and Marty Restaurant, Joshua’s Restaurant and Tavern, and Wild Oats Bakery and Café.• Showing your student ID at Wild Oats will give you a 10% discount on Sunday.     • Best bathrooms: Smith Union hallway gender-neutral bathroom. Hubbard side staircase floor-and-a-half        bathroom. Adams first-floor kitchen/bathroom. Hubbard second floor bathroom, right next to the water         cooler. Chapel bathroom.• Worst bathrooms: Hubbard basement.

When I was asked to write an article about what to expect from the Bowdoin hookup and dating scene, my first thought was: “I’ve finally made it—I am Carrie Bradshaw.” My second thought was that there’s no way to give universal advice on this subject when everyone has such diverse sex (or-lack-thereof) lives at Bowdoin.

So I put on my thinking cap and set about unraveling Bowdoin’s proverbial sex-and-relationship sweater to find the common threads.

There are certain inevitabilities that come with the Bowdoin hookup scene.

I remember a lot of awkward introductions. Bowdoin forced me to stand in a large circle on the Quad with 30 strangers, and asked everyone to please say his or her name, where they were from, and—for some reason—what everyone’s favorite gender was. Most just said female or male, but one brave hipster soul claimed she didn’t “believe in gender because it is a social construct.”

I’m not a fan of situations where I’m forced to bond with others. Call me old fashioned, but I like my icebreaking to happen with a bit of spontaneity. It’s just classier. Thus, when I went into first year orientation, I decided the best way to handle myself was to be super sarcastic and skeptical towards everything. “The man” was not going to tell me how and when I should bond with people. I would do it on my on time, in my own way.

Whenever I had to stand in some sort of bonding circle and interact with others, I would turn to the person next to me and make fun of whatever we were doing. I was a rebel without a cause—at least until I figured out that my plan was ultimately backfiring. In reality, joking with others about a mutual dislike of bonding games was actually bonding with them. It was Bowdoin’s master plan the whole time.

BOWDOIN EXPRESS: Colloquially known as the “C-Store,” this convenience store on the lower floor of Smith Union is open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. during the week and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on the weekends. Swipe your OneCard for late night pita chips and hummus or ice cream (try Maine’s own Dolcelino cookie sandwiches), stay to replenish your stock of basic medications, or get another package of just-add-water pad thai or brownie mix.

THE CAFÉ: Upstairs in Smith Union. Check the board for daily specials and seasonal drinks, and try the Sunrise Smoothie with a shot of espresso for an afternoon pick-me-up. Opens at 7:30 a.m. on weekdays, closes during the dinner hours, then continues to caffeinate most nights until midnight. Accepts Polar Points, OneCards and cash.

JACK MAGEE’S EXPRESS: Cash in on a OneCard meal credit between 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. (weekdays) to select items for a quick bag lunch. Rotating entrees include veggie Caesar salad wraps, pepperoni focaccia pizza, and burritos; all lunches include chips, fruit, cookie and a cup of soda.

The Bowdoin experience extends well beyond academics, but a large part of college is unavoidably spent in the classroom—a Bowdoin student with four classes will spend on average 12 hours in class per week, and much more than that in Hawthorne-Longfellow or Hatch Library.

The days of evenly-spaced periods of history, math, science and English are over: you are no longer obligated to have a well-rounded schedule. And because of this newfound freedom, it is well worth your time and effort to put some thought into choosing courses first semester. This is the time to experiment with new disciplines and to see what you like and what you don’t; try not to confine yourself to the handful of departments you liked most in high school.

Though some of you first years may have mapped out your whole life in seventh grade and already know exactly what you’ll be taking all eight semesters of college, most will be going into first semester with only a hazy idea of where your academic interests lie.Below a few thoughts on figuring it out.

When I was originally asked to write this, I wasn’t sure I’d have any advice to give incoming students. Entering my junior year at Bowdoin, I’m more and more convinced that I won’t know the answer to this place until I’m handed my diploma; only then will everything make sense.

As it stands, I would not change any of the decisions I made over the last two years—that includes the good and the bad. There have been plenty of both to go around. But each decision, each mistake, each experience, has only led me closer to finding my place at Bowdoin and trusting that it is the right school for me.

Coming from a public high school in the conservative South as a Hispanic gay male, Bowdoin seemed like heaven and hell at the same time. I was surrounded by people that, superficially, I had little  in common with.

&

Streak the Quad, charter a club, write your name on the chapel bathroom door, visit Prof. Morgan's office, spend a night at Colby or Bates, “win” dinner, and be (mis)quoted in the Orient.

Bowdoin’s Dining Service is consistently ranked as one of the top dining services in the country—there’s no denying that it definitely helps to be well-fed when you’re working as tirelessly as the typical Bowdoin student. Five things to know as you begin your journey with Bowdoin Dining:

1) The timeless question: Moulton or Thorne?
2) Brunch is a thing here.
3) The food isn’t going anywhere.
4) Regarding Special Events and the Bowdoin log.
5) Other Dining terminology.

I promise that I only meant to hate-read Fifty Shades of Grey. To be clear: I left the book in my bathroom and mostly flipped through to the sex scenes. There are nine or ten of them, depending. But why should I criticize the unofficial summer read of the Class of 2016?

As returning students may remember from a couple of stories in this paper and a series of emails sent out by Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols last spring, three Bowdoin students were given a criminal charge of forgery in connection with the use of fake I.D. cards in Brunswick. As one of those three students, I can say the situation blossomed quickly into much more stressful than a disciplinary headache.

We've learned some things. In a long line at the pub, call in and order over the phone to jump the line. The café gives out free leftover food in Smith Union late at night. And it’s nearly impossible to get transported by drinking beer.