By Mattie Stinson, Stentorian Staff Writer
The second 4th Bryan lounge is quite small, leaving all 17 of us juniors cramped, practically sitting on top of eachother on the few couches, getting to know each other really well. It was move-in day and there was a shared nervousness uniting us. In walked the ever eccentric Micheal Newbaurer, a man who’s glasses always match his colorful shirts and who gave us the adult-friendly version of the “NCSSM’s reality” talk. It was then we learned about the one rule that glues both adults and senior students together in warning juniors: the Two-Week Rule.
For those unfamiliar, you obviously weren’t given the same warning as the rest of us students upon arriving at NCSSM. The Two-Week Rule is the concept that juniors should refrain from making romantic efforts towards anyone for the first two weeks of school. In addition to this, there is the lesser used Two-Month Rule with the same concept.
At first, I thought this rule was ridiculous. Why are so many people telling us not to do this? Could this really be THAT much of an issue? Upon experiencing what it was like being a junior at NCSSM for the first semester, I saw why we were so warned.
Seniors tend to have a saying about the club fair that is held in the first few weeks after move-in. This saying is passed down from their seniors. They echo,“You’re gonna sign up for like 20 clubs because they all sound interesting, you’re gonna join a million Facebooks, and then you’re gonna limit the list after school starts.”
NCSSM students are NCSSM students because we are ambitious enough. We fought to apply and meet the requirements for acceptance, jumping through hurdles while other kids our age were peacefully enjoying their sophomore year. The “NCSSM” -sort of ambition becomes a tendency to dive into a million things head first, whether that be extracurriculars or relationships. The difference between the two? You can’t just end a relationship by leaving a Facebook group.
Despite the desire to take any opportunity that comes your way, sometimes the most important thing is to pause. Really take it all in, gather information, and then make a decision. So to all you lovely juniors: take a step back, think about your priorities, weigh the options, and for god sakes, take the two weeks.
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