Aaron Rea may have landed at UW-Madison by accident. The 18-year-old freshman chose the university because it had a wildlife ecology major, something UW-Milwaukee, another school he was considering, did not. A few days before classes started, however, he found out a college closer to home had a similar program. Had he known this before, chances are good he would have opted to go there. After all, he would have been closer to his home in Beloit, Wis., which would have meant being closer to friends, family and of course Cassie, his girlfriend of four months.
Rea said being away from so many people he cares about is difficult, perhaps the hardest part about making the transition to school here.
Rea has been going home every weekend. One of his favorite hobbies is catching crayfish, which, surprisingly, Cassie loves to do as well.
\It would have been closer and smaller,"" Rea said as he imagines what it would have been like had destiny lead him somewhere. ""But now I'm stuck here.""
Being stuck at UW-Madison, however, is not as bad as it sounds. His town of 35,000 seems small compared to campus. In his first few weeks here, Rea has tried to take advantage of some jewels of the city, like touring the Capitol and the Veteran's Museum. He also likes sitting in the Allen Centennial Gardens and thinking, walking around or reading.
As the semester takes its course, Rea is also learning a very important lesson about college. It's not like high school'not even close.
""It sucks!"" he said about his writing-intensive life science communications class. ""The biggest report I had to do in high school was five pages. ... Now that I have to write an eight-page paper, I don't know what I'm going to do.""
And it's not only the classes he's worried about, but finding enough time to do everything. He usually has just enough time between classes to go back to his dorm, switch books and head out again.
But if his work ethic is any indication, Rea probably won't have a problem. Taking a 14-credit course-load this semester, Rea is trying to graduate in three years.
""My freshman year [in high school] I knew what I was going to take up to my senior year,"" he laughed. ""I haven't done that yet here.""
Not all freshmen have as much career direction as Rea. Jackie Bateman hasn't chosen a major yet and cannot seem to decide what interests her.
""I was thinking about art and maybe being a museum curator, wouldn't that be fun?""she said.
But then again, a high profile job that is constantly changing sounds appealing to Bateman as well. Just don't suggest psychology, a field she at one point considered.
""I don't like people enough to be around them all the time,"" she said, admitting that listening to problems all day would be difficult.
Even though she doesn't have a major, Bateman is not concerned. Right now she is enjoying taking in the fumes of Madison.
""Madison's crazy!"" she said.
Still, Bateman does have hometown pride. Coming from Mankato, a town of 50,000 in southern Minnesota, she reminisces about hanging out with her friends in coffee shops like The Fillin' Station, so called because of its gas station theme.
While she misses her friends, she admits it is nice to be away as well. She hasn't mentioned missing her family.
""My brother misses me because my parents take everything out on him now,"" she said.
There are also those priceless first-time experiences that Bateman will treasure from her first few weeks as a freshman. The weekend before school started, she went to a house party, but was shocked to find out a cup of beer cost $5. In a furious boycott, she and her friends stormed out of the party. They drank vodka and Coke in an anonymous dorm room.
