The past year has contained many special memories, from Fr. Robert Dowd’s inauguration to playing in the National Championship. As an underclassman, I look forward to the next two years. While I cannot understand what it feels like to graduate college yet, I know what it is like to be an ambitious first-year, nervous about what their college experience will look like. Every Notre Dame student experiences a canon event their first weekend on campus — Welcome Weekend. While every student’s experience is different, I will try to best encapsulate the exhaustion and stress that Welcome Weekend brings.
Friday
The first couple of days of the Notre Dame experience are one of the most exhausting things someone can encounter. On the first day, you spend carrying in all your luggage, and as you slowly start putting up your decorations, you realize that your room will not look like those Pinterest boards you have been saving. You either were blessed to have air conditioning, or you walked into your dorm room and figured out that the Midwest can get surprisingly hot in August.
Then, you meet your random roommate and passive-aggressively suggest that you want the bed closer to the window. While you unpack all of your clothes, you guys slowly try to figure out what living together for the rest of the year will look like. It is the average “I like to stay in, but I also like to go out,” or “I like to keep things clean,” which, if you are me, is an absolute lie.
As you continue unpacking, you will realize you need to make multiple trips to Target, because while you were buying cute little fairy lights to hang around your bed, you forgot to buy essentials like a trash can or towels. Then, you walk over to the big tent on South Quad that is serving hot dogs and make awkward conversation with your roommate’s family. Eventually, you walk over to the “University Welcome” in Purcell and cram into the only seats you can find.
A lot of people you do not recognize now, but soon will, come up and speak. After you leave Purcell, it is time to open Apple Maps and wander back to your dorm. There, you will go down to the basement and play icebreakers with the other people in your dorm. Trying your hardest to remember names and faces, you will participate in some bonding activities while you cling to your roommate. After a long and very, very exhausting day, you get to spend your very first night in a Notre Dame dorm.
Saturday
The next day is just as exhausting. Now, your parents are gone, and it is time to integrate into your new home. You get to go to your first lecture series. I wish I had something substantial to say about this, but honestly I cannot even remember attending one.
Later, you are kind of on your own for awhile. You get to go to more events and master reciting your Notre Dame introduction. Everyone you meet belongs to a different dorm and all the names start to blend together. It took me about a year to figure out Farley and Flaherty were different dorms.
The two most memorable parts of Welcome Weekend’s Saturday happen at night: the class photo and Domerfest. For the class photo, you put on your dorm t-shirt — which is most likely the ugliest color you’ve ever seen — and begin the walk over to the stadium. Everyone shouts chants as they walk over that you will most likely never hear again. Then, you are packed into a random formation in the weirdly hot and humid South Bend weather. Finally, they take the photo and in a couple days, it will be posted on the Notre Dame Instagram. As you tap through Instagram stories reposting the photo, that is when it sets in how many random people you followed over the summer.
After, you go to Domerfest. Someone told me that you meet your lifelong friends at Domerfest, and in hindsight, I realize that was probably a joke, but first-year me took it to heart. I was so nervous and really felt the pressure to meet as most people I could. It is the most overwhelmed I have ever felt outside of DeBart, and I have left some exams not feeling too well. After I settled down and started to realize that I did not have to meet everyone I could, I was able to slowly enjoy Domerfest. I met a girl in my dorm and she was from the same state as me, which is all it takes to form a strong friendship with someone during Welcome Weekend.
Sunday
Sunday is the least planned day of Welcome Weekend. This is a nice time to finish setting up your room and text the random people you met yesterday if they want to get lunch. Everything is starting to feel a little more real and thinking about taking your first college class is exciting and nerve-wracking. The most important part of Sunday is the class trip to the Grotto. Despite getting hot wax spilled on you, the Grotto visit is one of the nicest parts of the weekend. It gives you time to self-reflect and think about what your next four years will look like. Everyone takes home a candle after the visit. I lit mine a couple months later, the night before my first 8 a.m. Stepan Center calc exam (one of many).
Despite the mild disdain for Welcome Weekend, the weariness of initiation is forever a bonding experience between you and your classmates. As you say goodbye to the past four years, think about how you felt your first-year, chanting with your dorm and trying to meet as many new people as you can. You have come a long way.
Abby Hernan is a political science and applied and computational mathematics and statistics student from Orlando, Florida. She is currently The Observer’s Viewpoint Editor and would like to dedicate this article to all the outgoing seniors. You can contact her at ahernan@nd.edu.
Abby Hernan is a junior, majoring in political science and applied & computational mathematics and statistics, from Orlando, Florida. She is currently studying abroad in London and is excited for her semester out of South Bend. When not writing for The Observer, you can find her buying overpriced coffee, scrolling through X or roaming the halls of Lewis. Reach out to ahernan@nd.edu.
