Spring semester is by far my favorite semester, and in terms of meeting new people, it should be yours, too. Let me explain. The freshmen are finally settling into life at Hopkins and are starting to explore the social life here beyond just the dirty basements of frat houses. And right as the freshmen are getting used to their work, second semester seniors stop doing all of theirs. Spring semester is really a perfect storm of exploring freshmen, laid-back seniors, newly-pledged Greek Life members and, hopefully, great weather.
If the first semester of freshman year is about getting to know your roommates and the people on your floor, then the second semester is about finding everyone else at Hopkins. Second semester freshmen are starting to explore Hopkins’s different milieus and intermingle with more upperclassmen. You’ll be surprised: after winter all sorts of people you never knew existed come out in flocks. My advice is to just get out and start meeting people if for no other reason than to make a few new friends.
Coincidentally, sorority and fraternity pledging starts during spring semester and with it comes more date parties, more closed parties and more formals. Oddly enough, this is good news for everyone in and outside of Greek Life because with rush comes a better and more diverse nightlife. More people going out to more places means more options come Saturday night. Now people’s weekends won’t depend so much on which fraternity is having a party, but rather on who’s going to PJ’s, Federal Hill, a date party or that concert down the street. In other words, you can meet everyone Hopkins has to offer, not just the people in some overpacked and overheated basement.
Spring semester is perfect for meeting people because there are so many excuses to get out there and mingle. And really that’s what I hope happens this semester; I want different people, classes, majors and so on to start mingling. Hopkins isn’t that bad once you leave D level or lab, and if nothing else, spring brings with it great excuses to get out of library.
You may think that relaxing on the Beach just because it’s warm out is idiotic. Fine. But why not just go with it and realize there are 200 people there, a quarter of them in bikinis, looking to meet people? If lying on the Beach sounds asinine and utterly ridiculous to you, please for everyone’s sake keep your pessimism and pale self on C level. But if you actually want to enjoy all the different facets of college then come on out.
Like I said earlier, spring brings with it Greek recruitment and pledging. I understand there’s a large faction of Hopkins students who hate Greek Life, but there’s no denying it provides great and easy ways to meet new people.
However stupid you might think formals or date parties are (I can’t stand sorority songs either), suck it up. They’re a really easy way to meet people and the worst case scenario is that you waste a few hours trying something new. I know it can be awkward going out with 80 girls or 80 guys you don’t know well, but at least give it a shot.
Spring semester has too many mixers, date parties, pub nights and concerts not to meet some new people in and outside of Greek Life. There are hundreds of great, funny and interesting people here, hiding in their dorm rooms and cubicles, that need to get out and realize that Hopkins isn’t all that bad. So the next time it’s 80 degrees and sunny outside, pick up your lawn chair and that oddly colored bottle of “Diet Coke” and get to the Beach.
