1. You are best friends with the Friars on campus.
At Siena, it is an everyday occurrence to see a man with a brown robe (called a “habit") walking through the academic quad. These Friars are significant to the campus’ Franciscan tradition, but they are also really awesome people. They conduct mass, teach classes, and will even sit with you in the dining hall. And if you are lucky enough to be invited over for dinner in the Friary, you’re in for what might be the best meal of your young life.
2. The main dining hall is, and always will be, Saga.
Although Siena has had two other dining services since SAGA, and even had the building rededicated in 2014, students refuse to call it anything but Saga. If Dr. Lonnstrom happens to be your professor, please apologize to him on behalf of all of us.
3. You feel a need to hold the door for the person behind you.
Even if they are very far away. Even if you really don’t want to. For some reason, this Admission’s joke has become so ingrained into our identity as a Siena student, you feel like you are breaking some unspoken rule if you just walk in and let the door close behind you.
4. It makes you irrationally angry to see Siena spelled with two “n”s.
Sienna? Sorry Toyota, you seem to have made a typo.
5. The seniors live in townhouses.
The awesome thing about Siena’s four-year housing requirement is that unless you are a commuter, you are going to live on campus all four years. While this may seem terrible if you don’t go to Siena, it honestly is great to have everyone in one place. Living in a townhouse is something that all Siena students look forward to.
6. Vineyard Vines, Bean Boots, and Sperry’s, oh my!
We have a very distinct fashion sense at Siena. And by distinct, I mean that everyone wears pastel shorts in the spring and Patagonia’s in the winter. If you need an accessory to complete your outfit, there is now a Starbucks on campus.
7. After you meet someone new, you see them everywhere.
With a little over 3,000 students, Siena is a relatively small school. You’d expect to see a lot of the same people, even if you don’t know all of their names. However, if you happen to strike up a conversation with the boy in line behind you at the post office, you will see him at least six more times that week. He will definitely think you are following him.
8. As a freshman, you lived in either Ryan, Hines, or Assmann.
*Plassmann. Sorry. Also, you had no idea how to spell Plassmann.
9. You look forward to Sienafest all year long.
Nothing is better than trying to guess the artist for the concert. (“I heard that it’s Beyoncé” - some student, every year).
10. There is never enough parking.
Every night at around 8:00 in the Hennepin parking lot, Siena students change from the nicest people on the planet to the world’s angriest drivers. If you don’t find a spot near your residence hall, you have to park all the way in Guam.
11. Facilities cleans up all the leaves before they even hit the ground.
Here at Siena, we like to pretend fall doesn’t exist. Seriously though, props to facilities for always keeping our campus beautiful, even if it means getting woken up by a leaf-blower every so often.
12. There is never a bad time for an “S-I-E-N-A!”
Nothing screams school spirit like a good chant. The Dog Pound is when you get to show off to the rest of Albany just how crazy you college kids are.
13. You are currently very confused about the dining situation.
Walking to either dining hall is essentially a gamble. The hours have been switching around, and if you happen to be hungry in-between meals, there might not even be any food out (they even put away the bagels). Massary never seems to be open on the weekends; there used to be brunch, now there’s not. Also, is there actually a food truck?
14. You know the Siena Fight Song.
Put on your old green bonnet with the yellow ribbon on it…”
If you don't know the song, please watch this video:
15. There is no place you’d rather go to college.
Siena is where we make incredible memories with lifelong friends. As cliché as it sounds, it really is our second family. We love you, Siena.