Welcome to the world of Pulse.

I remember reading the Pulse section for the first time as a freshman three years ago and entirely wanting to be a part of it. I loved reading about trends, concerts, musicians and places downtown because everything was new for me. I was in a new town and in college. Pulse became a part of my college experience.

This year we’re going to be featuring local music because this town actually has a music scene many people might not know about. Whether it’s an underground hardcore band or a student at the University who performs solo each week at open mic night at the Stones Throw, we’ll feature it. We want to keep people informed on what’s going on at places such as Howard’s Club H and at Cla-Zel downtown because it’s great to experience what these venues have to offer, especially as a freshman.

For this issue, we decided to go ahead and devote an entire page to the local music scene in order to key people in on a few of the many bands in town and throughout our area. It’s important for students to know about these musicians and to gain an interest on what is going on in our own town.

Our section will be featuring fluent stories about what’s going on downtown. It’s important as a freshman to gain information about what’s going on throughout downtown because I was completely bored on the weekends as a freshman. I needed to get out of my room and away from my books and laptop to get some fresh air outside.

We want to keep you updated on events going on throughout campus to help you become involved in something and to meet people because that’s what being a freshman is all about.

Although we’ll be informing you on what we think needs to be made known, we want to hear from you too. There were many things I wanted to read in Pulse as a freshman that I didn’t get to because I felt like I didn’t have a voice to let Pulse know what I wanted. We want you to have a voice and we want to know what you would like to see. Be creative and send us some ideas by either coming into the newsroom at 210 West Hall or tweet us at @The_BG_News with the #PULSE.

Just remember to take advantage of your freshman year at the University because it’s entirely up to you on whether you’ll love it or hate it. Become involved in something and make new friends. We would love for you to write for us, but do what makes you happy and will benefit you for your career.

I hope this year’s Pulse section keeps you reading each week and makes you actually want to become involved with something. Just drink coffee and read Pulse. That’s what has made me happy for three years.