Hangovers and Character Development: The Second Year Slump

In my first year I kept a diary. In my second year I stopped.

I wasn't exactly sure why, but looking back now, it seemed that second year didn’t fit into the neat narrative that my first year did. And it isn't just me. Every year there is a new movie or TV show about freshmen going to university. The narrative was already preordained for us: step one, “tearful" goodbye from parents; step two, make friends; step three, binge drink; step four, wake up hung-over; step five, character development.

The reason why there is no popular version of "Animal House" about second year is because it is all steps four and five. Second year is all hangover and character development. We already have Lena Dunham for the odd time that we want to see young people getting their lives together.

The best part of first year for me was undoubtedly looking forward to second year. I couldn’t wait to be a Frosh Leader, to sit at the second-year table, and to have all the privileges of second year that had been promised to me. For first-years reading this, second year wasn't a letdown, it was just different than anything I had expected. I hope for my fellow second years that you will identify with at least part of this article. All of this is to say that I wanted to write something funny about second year in a neat and tidy list format that everyone at Trinity loves so much. I wanted to write in a sarcastic tone, in a piece similar to my Frosh Week article about the trials and tribulations of going through events a second time, but with the privilege of buying drink tickets. From Halloween to Conversat to the long overdue quad couch, I wanted to write something quirky and funny. This is not that article.

The Sophomore Slump: when you wake up from first year. In England, this is known as the "second year blues". In Australia it is called "second year syndrome.” It is a rut: an uninspired routine or pattern of behavior that continues unthinkingly.

When you are in second year, you are a "Member of College" but not yet an "upper-year" as bitter third-years love to remind you. It is a slightly uncomfortable middle ground where you are supposed to combine the seriousness (i.e. jadedness) of the upper-years with the frivolity and relevance of the first-years. Personally, I had to adjust to going out less. #TBT was no longer synonymous with throwback tequila, and gradually I adjusted from going out three nights a week to two, to ‘maybe I'll have a drink at Whit rounds.’ I was comfortable with my friendships and my acquaintanceships, so I became happy enough staying in on Friday nights. But there is still the pressure to remain relevant, to be known by first-years and upper-years, and to assert one’s presence at major Trin events. In second year, I still considered myself too young to accept the blissful existence of a hermit.

When you are in second year, you get to watch the rest of your peers slowly disappear from residence, then in a mass exodus to apartments on Spadina and St. George at the end of the academic term. In first year, the 1T7s took up four tables in Strachan hall, and at the beginning second year it was a struggle to find a spot at either of our tables. Whether some grow tired of the food, eat at friends' apartments off residence, or spend more time at home, I am already prepared for the third year diaspora. It is not unfortunate to have less coherent social groups, it simply reflects that we are ready to grow in a way that hasn't been pre-mandated by the expectations of the College.

When you are in second year, you realise that the traditions and events which fascinated and drew you to the College are the product of hours of hard work on the part of your own year and other upper-years. To quote the words of an upper-year friend of mine, "I feel like I am keeping Christmas alive." Seeing the effort that goes into making an event magical, or at the very least safe and fun, takes away part of the illusion that was so important to you in your first year. High tables just don't happen, and beer at the Lit no longer appears magically. Trinity, as much as I liked to think it was in my first year, is not Hogwarts or any sort of utopia. It is the constructed product of our members committed to keeping Christmas alive, and that is something to celebrate.

For the 1T7s, we are halfway through. Nothing will be like first year, or second year again for me, and that is a good thing. Routines and traditions will change. For if our experiences truly repeated themselves, there would be no point going through it all, again and again, four (or five) times.