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Wednesday, April 08, 2026

The Avenue

Florida Alligator
The Avenue

The freshman's guide to going out

If you’re a freshman, the weekday grind of repetitive conversation, handshaking and awkward smiling has left your face, hands and brain a little numb. Then the weekend arrives. You have a glorious Saturday or Sunday ahead of you filled with sleeping, Internet surfing and movie watching on a Netflix account that you probably don’t pay for. However, the problem then arises that you don’t know anything about anything because you’re a freshman — duh. You will probably find yourself weighing one of these general options and, if so, here are some tips to go along with them:


Florida Alligator
The Avenue

Craigslist > missed connections

If there is a w4w posting you have hit a rare gem of a personal ad. The elusive w4w posting is rare because lesbians don’t care nearly as much about the Internet as straight guys do (for porn), straight women do (for Pinterest) or gay guys do (for porn and Craigslist missed connections). Now take a shot like a man.


Florida Alligator
The Avenue

The perpetual breakup of Taylor Swift: 5 heartache anthems

It’s no secret that pop-country superstar Taylor Swift is famous for her themed song writing concerning breakups and general lovesickness. For her, it’s as if the theme is super-sized and mega-adaptable, fitting seamlessly into all types of beats and styles alongside the standard painful lyrical prose.


Florida Alligator
The Avenue

Drop/add week madness: a charming letter of suggestion

For the past several hours, I’ve been staring at the drop/add page on my computer screen the way a drunk person watches the rotation of a gas station hot dog: with a mixture of hunger and disgust. Not five minutes goes by before I reclick the page’s refresh button, only to find myself seconds later cursing the heavens and shouting, “Buddha, Jesus, Athena! WHY!?,” knowing full well that somewhere in Gainesville, at that exact moment, some jerk is laughing because he has the class I want, and he knows it.


Florida Alligator
The Avenue

Alumnae encourages college experience to Hawaiian students

When Lia-Lucine Cary was a child, her grandfather taught her a valuable lesson — that educating oneself is the most important thing one can do. Today as a middle school teacher in Hawaii, Cary teaches that lesson to her students who are raised in a culture that doesn’t encourage college as an option.


The Avenue

UF alumnus brings musical talent overseas to North Korea

Offenther, originally from Coral Springs Fla., graduated from UF in 2007 with a degree in philosophy. He says the city of Gainesville saved him. Offenther dove into Gainesville life in every way through involvement on campus and in Gainesville’s cultural community, something he never felt he could do in his hometown. His first DJ gig was at the now-closed bar Tim and Terry’s Music & More, where he played the type of retro music that he wanted to dance to. “I wasn’t very good but it was unpretentious and fun,” he said.



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