This week, about 5,300 Yale undergraduates, one fourth of them freshmen, have headed back to lecture halls and seminar rooms with their notebooks and laptops. Of these, about one fourth are freshmen.

The entry (for freshemen) or re-entry (for students of other grades) into classrooms is not the first thing to do. At Yale, a transition period, which both new and returning students find helpful, is called Camp Yale. It’s like summer camp, involving no classes, only stress-free bonding with other students.

Even more important, the counselors demonstrate that the motto of work hard, play hard isn’t just for show. Yale students do study hard, but we also know how to party. It’s a necessary undertaking of the counselors to ensure that the new students do not get anxious during their first weeks.

Additionally, freshmen are meant to understand that their new school is famous for its superior academics, so it has much to offer.

In the one-day Freshman Bazaar, hundreds of undergraduate organizations, including dance troupes, political unions and community service organizations, set up booths and try to recruit new blood for their groups.