Decision Time; I've Been Accepted (Part 2)

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions; Sifting Through Your Admitted Schools List 

First of all, congratulations! Besides the upcoming deadline for depositing and therefore deciding your future at just one university or college, the hard part is done. I congratulate you for all of your accomplishments thus far. I remember, not too long ago, sifting through the universities I was accepted to, trying my best to imagine myself at each institution.

There are many aspects that come with being a Tulane student that have aided in my happiness here. While I cannot begin to list them all, I hope this list will help give you a better idea of what Tulane University is like from the inside so you can better picture if this is truly the place for you.

Extracurricular Opportunities 

The Tulane Green Club works on a variety of projects such as
composting and creating sustainable gardens around campus.

Tulane has over 250 clubs and organizations for students to get involved with. We have everything from the more traditional multicultural, religious, academic, service, and sports related clubs all the way to the Benevolent Society for the Propagation of Assorted Tomfoolery and Other Sorts of Peculiar and Otherwise Absurd and Baffling Nonsense (Otherwise known as, the Juggling Club). Greek Life at Tulane encompasses roughly 45% of Tulane undergrads. That being said, it really doesn't define who you are, who you hang out with, or what you do on an average weekend. With our spring rush system, you will have the opportunity to meet other upperclassman and underclassman in your classes, extracurriculars, and day-to-day life during your first semester. If you decide through those encounters that Greek life at Tulane is something you're interested in, great! If not, also great! In my experiences I have about an equal amount of friends in/not in a Greek organization and a fairly even spread of friends in multiple organizations.

One of my favorite aspects of Tulane student life as whole is our ability to balance the academic side of college life with extracurricular and other outside involvement.

Club Rowing is just one of many ways to stay active as a Tulane undergrad!

Entertainment 

The Uptown Mardi Gras experience is something for the books!
Tulane students are intertwined with local families and tourists to
catch the parades away from the Bourbon Street madness.

That last point brings me into one final one: entertainment. It is no surprise to most that New Orleans has a long history enriched in festivals, celebrations, and drinking. From Sazerac’s at The Roosevelt to Hurricanes at Pat O’Briens, there are plenty of famous venues serving up tasty concoctions. Be that as it may, actually living in New Orleans provides a far different story than Bourbon Street binges and late nights in the French Quarter. In my opinion, Tulane students get the best of both worlds. We spend a large portion of our time in the Uptown neighborhood, enjoying local comforts like afternoons slurping down Snoballs or evenings watching the sunset at the Fly. There is no shortage of amazing venues to catch live music any given night or a delicious fresh seafood gumbo or po’boy all within walking distance from the Uptown campus. Don’t get me wrong, with more festivals than days of the year in the Gulf South, Tulane students definitely have our fair share of excuses to get out and find some relief away from the classroom and Uptown neighborhood. The key to a successful Tulane career, or any college career for that matter, is moderation. As Tulane students, we may have to do a little more long term planning to balance out exams and midterm papers with Mardi Gras parades, catching the Rebirth Brass Band at the Maple Leaf, or chomping down a few pounds of crawfish at Crawfest, but it all comes naturally to most.

Generally, all Tulane students know and understand that academics comes first and stay true to their academic and professional goals for the duration of their Tulane experience. 

Crawfest is an annual music, food, and arts festival located on campus. Each year, over 10,000 community members and students enjoy a day of live music, 20,000+ pounds of crawfish, thousands of pounds of veggies, and 25 local food and art vendors across 2 quads.

The Fly is Tulane's version of a beach, minus the sand or ocean. It is a beautiful park set directly alongside the
Mississippi River bend where students are often found relaxing, hanging out, or even studying!

About the Author

Trey Holmes

Class of 2016 

Major: Public Health 

Minor: Business 

Involvement: GWA, Greek Life, CACTUS, Community Service Fellowship, USG 

A Greek Letter

How many siblings do you have? I have one brother, and about 250 sisters.

Coming to Tulane, I knew I wanted to participate in Greek Life. I had spent my whole life going on family vacations with my mom’s college sorority sisters, and wanted to be able to drag my future family on the same types of outings.

Luckily, Tulane has a spring rush system, which means everyone gets a chance to settle into freshman year as one collective group. I had my dorm friends, my class friends, my laundry room friends, and was so excited to add sorority friends to the mix.

They say rush is one of the most stressful parts of college, and I can’t say I disagree, but the outcome is well worth it. Come bid day, I found myself screaming and jumping up and down with a bunch of freshman that were about to become my sisters.

The best part of the spring rush system is that you already have friends, and some will most likely end up in a different sorority than you. Suddenly, the opportunities to meet new people and expand your friend group will multiply. Walking down Broadway, it’s impossible not to run into someone you know, never mind the letters on their t-shirt.

While I expected being in a sorority would be fun, I never really thought about exactly what it would mean. It gives me a support system at Tulane, across the country from my family, friends, and home. There is always someone that can help you with a homework problem or who just wants to hang out. I have a family within my sorority (my “big sister” and “little sister”), and that makes Tulane feel even more like home.

Mixers with rhyming themes, t-shirts with sparkly letters, and painless community service hours are what I thought being in a sorority would be about. And while those are definitely enjoyable perks, have an automatic group of 250 people you can consider sisters is so much greater than I could have predicted. And, if nothing else, a lot more people wave to you on the way to class. What would you do if you had 250 sisters?



Alex Feigenbaum
Wellesley, Massachusetts
afeigenb@tulane.edu

Valentine's Day: Love Is In The Air at Tulane!

Hey Y’all,

For Valentine’s Day I wanted to do something a little different than the typical “Most Romantic Spots on campus” so I reached out to Nikki and Dan, a couple that met during their time at Tulane.  I hope their love story gives y’all the warm and fuzzies!

How did you two meet?

Nikki: Dan and I first met in the beginning of our freshman year through a mutual friend. Although Dan was my first Tulane kiss (at a fraternity party bus), we just remained friends for the first 3 years of school.  It wasn't until our junior year, that Dan invited me to his Sig Ep Formal in San Destin, FL. We didn't expect it to be a romantic weekend, but somehow by the end of the weekend we were inseparable. From that point forward, we spent every moment together. Four years later we were engaged, and a year and a half after that we were married.  Currently, we are happily married, living in the city we love (New Orleans, of course), in our newly renovate house (a Katrina house, which we gutted and renovated, located blocks away from Tulane), and had our first baby boy this past Christmas. 

What were your first impressions of each other?

Dan: The first thing I noticed about Nikki was her big, beautiful smile.  In fact, I would always go up to her and tell her how amazing her smile was (thinking I was smooth and cool).  But looking back, I sounded more like a pathetic drunk guy trying to get lucky.

Nikki: My first impression of Dan was that he was a very charming guy. He was the "life of the party" and I always had a good time with him. 

What was your favorite NOLA date spot?

Nikki: I’m not sure college life was very conducive to fancy date nights, but our favorite "date spot" during college was the fly. Going to the levee with a blanket, some good food, and a box of wine was our idea of a great date.   

How do you feel that Tulane was a catalyst in bringing you guys together?

Dan: Tulane Greek Life was a huge catalyst in brining Nikki and I together; without it, we most likely would not have found one another.  Throughout college we constantly bumped into each other at a variety of Greek events (ex. date parties, mixers, and fund raising parties). Our social lives revolved around Tulane Greek Life, and the Sip Ep Formal is where our relationship truly began.