Will you like me? (Risky behavior in college freshmen)
By Marley Orange
From the Watkinson Library website page I went to browse the archived and digitized objects. I was able to find an article on the Trinity College Digital Repository. I found the article I liked best by exploring different disciplines, and picking social psychology under the psychology section, which was under the social and behavioral science section. The article was titled “The Effects of Parent and Peer Attachment on Risky Behavior in First-Year College Students,” a thesis by Trinity College student Jamie L. Callahan. The article is about how first-year students at college are more likely to indulge in risky behavior, such as “substance use and risky sex” especially when they have weaker relationships with their friends and family. This behavior stems from low self-esteem and insecurity, and therefore worse emotion regulation. I was interested in this article because I have always been very interested in psychology, specifically the study of social psychology and using psychology to analyze behavior. When I read this article, I was inspired to write a song from the perspective of a first-year student at college who feels pressured to indulge in these behaviors to make friends and because of a bad relationship with their parents. I really loved this prompt, because it has been a while that a song inspiration came so abruptly and immediately to me. I have been struggling to find new ideas to make art about recently, and sometimes it is easier to write from someone else’s perspective and narrative. As of right now, I only have the first two verses, a pre-chorus, and the chorus but hope to complete this song soon. This first part of the song came very naturally to me. Here are the lyrics thus far:[VERSE 1]
I’m a first year and I wanna be cool
So I go around campus saying fuck the rules (Right, guys?)
But I kinda think that some rules make sense
‘Cuz total anarchy is kinda intense.
[VERSE 2]
Now I’m off at college and I’m all alone
But I guess it’s better than being home.
My dad never really looks at me and my
Mother is a shadow of who she used to be.
Seems like everybody else’s family is a team
But mine just hurts my self esteem.
[PRE CHORUS]
Anyway, I’m here for the next four years,
And having no friends is my biggest fear.
[CHORUS]
If I drink, will you like me?
If I smoke, will you like me?
If I do something that I’ve never done,
Will everyone think she’s super fun?
Will you like me? Will you like me? Will you like me?
Will you like me? Will you like me? Will you like me?
I believe that a hard copy of this thesis could be included in the Watkinson cases. It is a very interesting and informative article. The article also says a lot about the culture we exist in the midst of, living on a college campus.