The first few weeks of classes fall quarter always take me back to my first days at OSU.

The habitually lost freshmen with their campus maps trying hard to act like they know where they’re going. The RPAC full of eager and well-intentioned fitness wanna-be’s running ardently on the treadmill, thinking they’ll never pick up that freshman fifteen, up until they discover the Super Saver and realize PJ’s will satisfy that drunken craving at 3:30 a.m.

Ah yes, OSU is back in full swing with a new batch of students about to embark on one of the greatest journeys of their lives. Unfortunately, one other familiarity I witness on bustling High Street takes me out of nostalgia-mode and back into reality: credit card solicitors.

You see them on every street-corner, and sometimes a few more places in-between. They stand in the middle of the sidewalk, stepping in front of you so you have to see them and deal with their presence. They promise you a free OSU T-shirt, an OSU-themed credit card of your very own or maybe even a gift certificate to SBX or Starbucks.

They stand salivating, waiting for that perfect customer: an 18-year-old just out of high school and tasting those first few drops of freedom. No more allowances; no more having to ask mom and dad for money. They’ve got no job and mom and dad probably are keeping a watchful eye on the credit card they sent along with Joe or Jane College. But Joe and Jane desperately need that credit card of their own.

Stop! Put down the credit card application and back away from the free T-shirt offer. You don’t know what you’re doing.

These credit card hounds do not offer any sound advice when signing college students up for new accounts. They do not ask if students realize the interest rate is 25.99 percent. They do not tell students that if they fail to make a payment on time, that interest rate will jump even higher. They do not tell them that it is better to go without than to live beyond your means. They do not tell you that with every credit card you open, your credit score will be affected. They definitely do not do offer credit counseling.

You sign up for your brand new credit card and you fill it up with beer tabs, pizza runs and an artsy tattoo that your parents will most certainly disapprove of. Everything is swell until the bill comes and you’re still without a job and cannot pay the minimum balance. Even if you can, the interest rate is so high that paying the minimum will only put a fine crease in the debt you owe.

I believe once you are an adult you should most certainly take on adult responsibilities. Putting a credit card in your pocket is a necessary evil. Eventually you will need to start building credit. But once you decide to sign up, make it an informed decision.

Read the fine print, especially about miscellaneous fees. Learn how credit cards work and how they should be managed. You will probably have to initially suffer a high rate, but maintain the payments and keep the balance at a tolerable rate and within six months or a year you can call the company and ask for the rate to be lowered. Consult your parents or at least an experienced person you trust. Their advice may be the safety net you need to save you from a future of uncontrollable debt and possible bankruptcy.

Credit cards may seem pretty harmless. It’s like an addictive drug: You start off with just a little bit and think you have it under control. The next thing you know it’s bigger than you and you can’t get out from under it.

College is a time to concentrate on creating your future. Have fun. Let loose. Make those experiences happen for you so you can look back on these days as some of the most cherished memories you’ll ever have. But don’t let the credit card harassers ruin not only your time as a Buckeye, but possibly the rest of your life.

A credit card is in your future, but a spiraling interest rate doesn’t have to be if you do your own research and steer clear of High Street’s minefield of solicitors.

Amanda Forbes is a senior in journalism. She can be reached at [email protected].