YU Life...Yeah We have That

Well, YU is back and it brought everyone with it. After a vacation that seemed to vary between too long, too short, and just right, depending on who you ask - they're all back. All of them. Now when I say all, I mean all.

The preppies, the frumies, the jocks, and of course, lets not forget the staple of Yeshiva: the TV lounge people as they're commonly referred to by the anthropology department. All these people come together to form the beautiful collage of a student body that makes up the Yeshiva campus. With these different types of people on campus come different views about campus life and YU as a whole. I set out to gather peoples' feelings about the first few days of the new semester.

Living in Rubin myself, I took a short trip down the stairs to the fourth floor and knocked on a random door. The resident seemed to be getting ready to go out. You know, spiffing himself up, the whole deal. I said, "Hi, my name's Avi Schneider and I'm writing a student soapbox piece for The Commentator on the first few days of school. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind."

"Schools great," he replied, " the administration could be a little more organized."

I laughed, at least he was willing to talk to me. I asked him if he went on any of the events planned for orientation. He said no, not because it's a pathetic thing to do, on the contrary, he felt it was very essential given the nature of many YU and Stern students. He said it was just more of a clique thing and he wasn't into that. He said that this was one of the reasons he liked YU. It's got all types so you can find your place.

In general he seemed to be enjoying his stay here.

After our nice little conversation, I headed outside to make my way to Furst for class. On the way I noticed someone sitting alone on a bench, enjoying his quiet time, eating a snack. I thought that there couldn't be a better time to be annoying so I approached him too. He seemed to take it well that I was there and even insisted that I wasn't bothering him. He was back from his shana bet in Israel. He said he was having a great time but he wasn't too thrilled with the orientation events. He thought the boat ride was a little degrading. He felt that the people on it could be a little more serious towards Judaism. He did make it clear though that he felt the trip was not an accurate representation of the hashkafic background of both colleges, rather a sample of a specific element. I don't believe he was being condescending. He was much more pleased with the Stomp play though.

In general, I feel the YU campus is filled with life. People say it isn't, but if they just open their eyes they'll see the light.