paying to be hit with water baloons and other "fun"

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I was looking at some of the newset pictures on here and came across a comicaccount of someone's expirences as a college freshman. The info they wrote for it was the following: "Hey guys, long time no see. I've been super busy settling at college. I'm moved in and that good stuff. :B Loads of nice people and lots to do.
I kind of want to make a "What I Did LAST Week" page. Before I came here I was on some sort of crazy pre-college retreat where they had us bond with each other by making us do horrible tasks in groups of 8. Dag yo. You guys would prolly like it. :B
Btw, Initiation is AWESOME. The freshman got pelted with waterballoons on our way to campus from the train. It was total moist carnage. Almost seven hundred students running shrieking through a town at like 11pm while being hit by upperclassmen riding in jeeps and on tandem bikes. <3 Totes on my top ten experiences list.
Anyways! Fun times."

I left my own comment: "Do they really make you get hit with water balloons? I mean if you refuse to go to retreat can they refuse to let you take classes there? That just dosen't sound right. It sounds like harrassment which in most places is illegal."

Their reply was this: "The pre-college retreat and initiation were unrelated. You paid to go on the retreat and it was a two credit course with reading and other assignments. And, well, yeah, if you wanted to get a good grade you did what they told you.
As far as initiation goes, we had some warning beforehand, so people with leather shoes and stuff had time to stash them in their bags. It was all in good fun, and it's not like it was the administrators hitting us. It's just a tradition with the upper classmen and I FULLY intend to participate next year. It actually made me feel kind of special. :'>"

WTF? You enjoyed it but the character (which is supposed to be you in animal form) in the picture looks terrified? Being pelted with water baloons isn't my idea of fun, neither is feeling like I am being persued or being surrounded by umteen screaming people. This reminds me of when my brothers crossed the equator on their Navy ships and had salt water dumped on them and all kinds of gooey stuff. I said I would never let them do that to me but I was told I would have too. No I would not! Anyway, why do non autistic people find this sort of expireince fun? Why wold anyone want to pay money to have that done to them or go through this sort of thing? Why do they consider it fun? Maybe I am the one with problems because I think this sort of thing sounds like harassment. I was severely bullied and abused in elementry school (was home schooled for middle and high) and have severe PTSD as a result. This sort of hazing...er ritual would bring flashbacks and possibly even make my PTSD even worse. Do you think what this girl is describing sounds like fun?

I have NO fricking idea. This sort of thing NEVER made sense to me.



NO!! !

And no, you do not have problems.

I can't help wondering if stuff like this isn't just part of a desperate need for acceptance at any cost. That's all these "hazings/initiations" seem to be.

These are intended as social bonding experiences. Individuals who go share hardship as a group typically form strong social bonds, as it creates a sense of belonging to a group. This is a training strategy used in the military to consistent and powerful effect, but is also seen in other places, such as this school. Here is the key. You may not be technically 'required' to go through the process, but refusing to do so will have social consequences, probably including a continuation of outsider status for you within that group.

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So what's new? I want to go to college to learn, not make friends. I'd rather be the outsider than have to deal with severe PTSD for the rest of my life. Anyways I perfer to make friends with people who have simaliar intrests and who aren't "fake".