LIFESTYLE: Best Friends Forever?

The 308 beer cans were neatly stacked into a pyramid. "We don't even live here," they said. "We live next door." But they looked right at home in the piles of papers and dirty clothes. Ever since they met at the beginning of the year, these two freshmen and their neighbors have spent so much time together, they might as well live in one giant room. Many freshmen form fast friendships at the start of the school year, but not all of these bonds last until second semester, and fewer still last beyond freshmen year. Friends and family often warn students that the first people they meet at school are not necessarily the friends they will keep throughout their college careers. "[Before college] I'd been told that my first semester friends aren't my second semester friends," College freshman Michelle Vaserstein said. "I hung out with people on my floor in the beginning[of the year], but now most of my friends are on the floor above me." Sociology Graduate Group Chairperson Jerry Jacobs said the reasons students make fast friends and then drift apart are part of a long-standing debate on how much college affects students in the long run. Some students maintain a strict set of ideals and values during college, so they look for -- and keep -- friends who share their views. For others, college is a shaping experience, a time to experience new things and search for new identities. These students are more likely to go through many groups of friends before discovering friendships that last. "National statistics show that at least half of all college students change majors before they graduate," Jacobs said, adding that this ambivalence also extends to students' choice of friends. Sociology professor Charles Boss said changing friendships is part of human nature. "I suspect that one reason it's true is that you meet more people as the year goes on," he said. "I also imagine the other people they hang out with less are friends they knew from high school. These friendships dissipate over time." Third floor Smith Resident Adviser Lisa Valentine said she believes freshman form close friendships quickly because they are lonely. Valentine also noticed that as the year progresses, first-year students may not need the security of freshman floor friends. "I see people come to me less and less," she said. Some people who do not find a niche on their freshman floors find it elsewhere, on sports teams or in fraternities. According to Jacobs, freshman floor friendships often occur automatically because students live in close proximity. Athletic teams and the Greek system also encourage bonding, but students must move beyond the security of their residences to find those activities. "There's a difference between making friends because they live on your floor and making friends because you have something in common," Jacobs said. · Different dormitories on campus have reputations for producing different kinds of friendships. The Class of '28 section of the Quad, like other unrenovated sections, is known for its outgoing social atmosphere. Fourth floor resident Citron said he and his hallmates do not feel they have to leave the dorm for entertainment. "Everyone leaves their door open. We have people in rooms until two in the morning," Citron said. "There's always more than five people in a room." The fourth floor has also attracted some "regulars," people who do not hang out on their own floors but instead have "moved in" with the Class of '28. College freshman Bryan Thornson was a "regular" who visited from Hill House until he decided to move in. He now lives on the fourth floor. "This is the best floor in the Quad," he said. But the floor's friendly atmosphere has also gotten the residents in trouble. On more than one occasion, the floor has been so loud that the resident adviser from down the hall had to come to see what was going on. The unrenovated Quad retains the same dark green paint and black linoleum floors it has had since the 1950s. And earlier this year, lacrosse players on the fourth floor broke several windows. Still, some of the residents said they preferred the run-down rooms and friendly environment of one of the last unrenovated sections of the Quad to the quieter, renovated sections. "We're in the grossest rooms in the Quad and we wouldn't move to the renovated rooms even though they're better," said Sauer. · But not all freshman floors are as cohesive as Class of '28, and students' experiences vary even when they live in the same environment. College freshman Jennifer Fields lives in Hill College House, and she said her suite remains good friends, but they do not hang out together as much as they did at the start of the school year. "I still hang out with my roommate a lot, but we made a lot of new friends," she said. But Engineering freshman Manoj Aggarawal said he does not spend a lot of time with his roommate, and although he did not get to know his suite at the beginning of the year, he now has more friends in the suite and participates in many suite activities. · Some freshman friendships never break apart. College senior Brent Allen and his five housemates have known each other since freshman year, when they all lived together year on the fifth floor of English House. "In English House, everyone knew their floor pretty well," Allen said. According to Allen and his housemates, the English House environment fostered friendships. Its location far from other dormitories, encouraged students to form a tight community. The small size of the dorm also helped the residents to get to know each other quickly. "We were just too lazy to go meet anyone," Allen said jokingly. After their first year, most of the fifth floor chose to live in the high rises. Although some of the students roomed together, everyone currently living in the Sansom Street house lived in High Rise South. The next year, College senior Geoffrey Hirsch and few other students from the fifth floor were looking for an off-campus house. When they needed some extra people to fill the house, they remembered their freshman floor friends. Although they described their living accomodations as a "pit," they enjoyed living together enough to remain together another year. How did they manage to stay friends since freshman year? College senior Tom Aylward said he had an idea of why they have remained friends. "We're a great bunch of guys," he said.