First-year students disappointed to learn college is nothing like The Sims 2: University expansion pack
EVANSTON, IL - As the academic year reaches a close, freshmen throughout our community reflect on their first year at Northwestern. “Was the stress worth it?”, “How do I explain my LOC major to my parents?”, “Did I rush the right music fraternity?” These are all common questions that are reflective of a productive year at Northwestern. However, not everyone in the class of 2020 feels this way. Many freshman students this year have expressed concern that, so far, their college experiences have really not measured up to their prior expectations of college after playing Sims 2: University.
Bowen Odabashian, a Weinberg freshman, stated, “I have to admit I was a little disappointed after a few months at Northwestern and realized that college is nothing like the Sims 2: University expansion pack. I was just expecting something a lot more straightforward. In Sims University, you easily pick from eleven majors. It’s efficient and stress-free. But here are over 100 majors and minors to choose from, as well as a process of actually having to walk into a building and meet with an advisor instead of simply pressing a button. It’s just unnecessarily complicated and fretishe miza.”
As it turns out, a longing for the simplicity of a computer-generated college experience is a sentiment shared across the various schools at Northwestern. Liz Hurley, a McCormick freshman, expressed that she felt “cheated” that her social life at Northwestern does not compare to what she feels she was promised after playing the 2005 PC game. “Around finals week my Fun and Social Mood Bars really start to diminish. I tried to improve my mood by watching TV or enrich my life skills by reading a cookbook, but I just couldn’t distract myself from the crushing anxiety of studying for my EECS final. Also, the CD cover of Sims 2: University has a man in a toga, which is bullshit. I don’t know about you, but I have yet to go to a toga party at Northwestern that isn’t just a bunch of Sig Chis flashing their unshaven nipples. Deplah blah! ”
College can be a tough transition, but for this group of freshmen, real university life is more than they bargained for. Regarding the competitiveness of getting into clubs at Northwestern compared to that of the Sims 2: University, Bowen had this to say: “It’s just so… firby nurbs. Shoo flee, fleny fleny! Sulsul! Plerg majah bliff?”
