I used to joke with one of the NewGenres teachers aides about the first year students. We noticed a couple patterns:

-Nudity.

-Setting stuff on fire (frequently stuff that they were attached to as a child)

-Screaming.

-Doing stuff with food (hence the Mayonaisse and yammyness)

-self mortification.

Of course, we weren't gonna crit' by saying the old "It's been done before". Thats not a cool thing to say to a student in that manner. I hated the other students who always said that in a blunt and invalidating manner. But its interesting to see that there is a pattern. I think there is something cathartic in this and I feel a student SHOULD do these things. Only later on do they discover that it has been done before.

Be that as it may, I still love to see people really get into their stuff and work it. Just the fact that they are brave enough to put themselves out there is already a great thing.