As exciting an experience freshman year may be, it can also be particularly nerve-racking.

In an attempt to bring all these nervous, wide-eyed, enthusiastic students together, the university implemented the Common Experience.

This experience consists of every incoming freshman reading the chosen common text, which will later be used in their respective Freshmen Studies courses.

The Common Experience has been implemented at St. Edward’s for seven years ago.

In the past, St. Edward’s was much smaller and needed only one freshmen studies course for all of its first year students.

Now that the university has grown, a total of eight lecture courses are offered each year.

“We lost the sense that the students had something in common with one another and had something to share with each other once they came to St. Ed’s. That is why we started the Common Experience,” Director of Freshmen Studies Alexandra Barron said. “We wanted something that would bring all the first year students together, and generate some sort of conversation, whether they liked the book or not. We want something that will stimulate some sort of talk.” 

The chosen Common Text varies yearly, from fiction to nonfiction, and from educational to thought provoking.

This year’s book is Max Brooks’ “World War Z,” chosen to fit the theme of “Dystopia and Sustainability.”

Each year, a committee meets with a short list of about twenty different books, which they eventually narrow down to only a few. Of these finalists, the faculty, staff and students who comprise the committee hash it out over which book should be chosen. The committee has to select a book that fits the chosen theme.

“The biggest criteria in choosing a book is a strong story that will grab people’s attention. It helps if it can be used in a variety of disciplines too,” Barron said. 

The selection committee consists of members of Campus Ministry, Academic Planning and Support Services, library staff and faculty from various departments all around campus. It seems that the entire campus has gotten involved in embracing the novel.

Several events are being held throughout the semester with the common theme in mind.

Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve hosted a work day on Sept. 15, and will have another on Nov. 17, in support of the sustainability aspect of the theme.

An assortment of dystopic films are set to be screened on campus, including “The Hunger Games,” “Sun Come Up,” “Juan of The Dead,” and “No Impact Man.” 

On Oct. 17 and 18, Transit Theatre Troupe will present a short play festival, in which all of the plays will explore dystopia.   

Campus Ministry will be hosting its annual Miles for a Mission 5K on Oct. 28, but this year’s mini marathon will be a Zombie Apocalypse run.

Possibly the most exciting event, though, is the lecture Max Brooks himself is set to give on Oct. 10. The talk will be geared towards freshmen, but all are welcome to attend.

Finally, Freshmen Studies will be holding a short story contest, called “The Great St. Edward’s University Zombie Flash Fiction Writing Contest-palooza.” The contest is open to any freshmen who want to write short fiction about zombies and perhaps win a dinner with Max Brooks. 

In truth, St. Edward’s has come alive with the spirit of the walking dead, making this year’s Common Experience hardly common at all, even though it is shaping up to be quite the experience.