An academic view on the hate of freshmen

As a freshmen, I had no clue why there was an immense disdain towards my group from the sophomores who had just ended their own freshmen career. Now that I am a sophomore, I completely understand. The hate of freshmen is not at all logical, or in any way justifiable except for the singular and utterly true and morally justifying reason of. . . you’re a freshmen.Simply, the only true reason for any hate towards you is you. It’s not always you as an individual human being, or your own thoughts that you may express, but rather the space in which you take up, whether it’s at lunch, in class or even walking by. You, once labeled with the identifier of “freshman”, officially become fresh meat. It’s an endless cycle and now it is your turn. A common reason given for why sophomores hate freshmen is that “you will understand”, as many sophomores told me my freshmen year. This reasoning is a vague version of the truth. The reason is more of an obligation and the “you will understand” is more of a “you must uphold this said obligation so that you are not looked down upon by the general public”. Also, you get to look at people who are making all the same stupid and screwed up mistakes you made at that time.The chant of, “[obligatorily offensive word] you freshmen”, though superfluously frowned upon by the general public, voices a strong opinion that comes from many classes in the school. As you continue through the first year, what you may notice is most likely the sophomores. These are the people most likely to give you the hardest time. They are the most likely to be in your classes and are, based on personal encounters, the most vocal about it. Then you realize the juniors hate you. Like the sophomores, hating freshmen is similar to a right of passage for the juniors. The juniors are having a tough year and really need a place to vent it and there you are, a freshman with little knowledge of how Samo works, the perfect victim. And finally the seniors. You won’t notice their hate for you until you actually become a sophomore. They actually don’t even hate you that much because by this time, you’re either a friend to them or not, they honestly just don’t care.I want to stress that this is not a “screw you freshmen” article. Yes, you are a major part in what is wrong with this school, but it is only because you are a strong and real life reflection of the stupidity of our prior years. As freshmen, you are a grand scapegoat that we can scare and influence. There is an absolute responsibility that you will feel towards the future freshmen community once you have reached seniority over them. It’s a general statement that the majority of the grades just dislike you and it should not be taken personally. It’s not who you are or how you act it’s just that you’re new and haven’t experienced this high school. In general, remember it’s not you as a person the grades above you hate, it’s the thing you represent and the space you take. Though some of you are bad people, I cannot deny this, I think that in more of a generalization, it is just because of the old selves you reflect upon us that truly makes us dislike you.