Madina Seytmuradova
Variety Editor
Israel Ashby
Contributor
Before move-ins officially started, some freshmen began their college journeys and experienced what Troy was like before everyone else arrived.
Tessa Marie, a freshman nursing major from Foley, said she came to Troy early to participate in the Sorority Rush Week. According to Marie, sorority recruitment is a sequence of interviews with different sororities.
“They talk to you about what you like and what you don’t like,” said Marie. “You meet a lot of people.
“Then, they tell you about their values and what they want in a sisterhood. You come back again to see the ones that like you.”
The sorority rush week leads up to the bid day when sororities choose their new members and women choose their favorite sororities.
“You will get a piece of paper with what sorority likes you the most and then you run to their house,” Marie said.
Marie, who is now a member of Kappa Delta, said she decided to go Greek because it helps to adjust to life in college, grow as a person and establish connections that will be useful in future.
While the journey to Troy took Marie only a three-hour drive, for Hrishav Aryal and Rajat Lamsal, two freshman computer science majors from Kathmandu, Nepal, it meant a transatlantic flight.
“It took me about 17 hours,” Lamsal said about his total time of travel with transit flights.
Aryal said he had a transit flight through Dubai to New York City, and stayed there with his aunt before coming to Troy for the international orientation, which took place Aug. 10-12.
The orientation is mandatory for all incoming international students and, according to Justin Lampley, an adviser for international students, it helps the incoming international students ease into the university life.
Aryal said that almost everything in Troy is different from his hometown.
“Everything is civilized and in order, systematic. People are more friendly.”
Montae Barto, a freshman graphic design major from Crestview, Florida, also noted the hospitality of people in Troy.
“Everyone here is kind and pretty genuine,” Barto said.
“I mean I got a great coach that’s been helping me a lot. I got great upperclassmen that are in my position right now, that are teaching me a lot and they’re just giving me the basics. I’m really happy about that, that they welcomed me, you know.”
Barto came to Troy at the start of August for the football fall camp.
“I had practices. Sometimes two a day,” Barto said about the first week of Fall Camp. “I mean I had nothing to do until everyone got here but football, so we were just playing football for a long time, but I love the sport, so it’s a blessing.”
A typical day in the fall camp, according to Barto, started with a breakfast at 6:15 a.m., a treatment session at 8 a.m. in case of injury and a lot of football.
“Let’s see, we would be in football (practice) around 6:15 in the morning and we would go all the way till 10:30 at night.”
“Nothing but football; either practice or watching a film or learning just new ways to do things.”
Barto said the camp was occupying all his time and he “didn’t really see nothing but the football field, the football players and (his) room and bed.”
At the same time, the Sound of the South band camp, another intense training, was taking place at the university.
Joanna Ellis, a freshman history education major from Gardendale, said she came to Troy in early August to participate in the rehearsals.
“I like it; it’s exhausting but it’s rewarding,” Ellis said about the rehearsals. The weather didn’t stop her from attending the rehearsals in the open air. “This is the first day we had sun. It’s rained every single day.”
The typical day for a member of the marching band in the first week of camp, according to Ellis, includes some seven hours of rehearsal.
“We practice three and a half hours in the morning and then three and a half hours in the afternoon.”
Ellis said she will be playing piccolo in the Sound of the South during the first football game of the season on Sept. 3, against Austin Peay State University.
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