New Student Week From a Senior’s Perspective

As someone entering his final year at Carleton, it is poetic that this is also the first time I have been on campus for New Student Week since I first stepped foot on campus four years ago. Watching all the new first years, some of whom are now my fantastic colleagues, made me nostalgic for when I flew up from North Carolina to spend the next four years in a state I had never stepped foot in. I stuck around to watch the frisbee toss, Carleton’s big tradition to kick off orientation, and couldn’t help but remember my own, remember saying goodbye to my parents, remember all the things from that first term that I miss, and all the things I wish I had done a little differently. So, while my new bloggers give their two cents about how to best their first term here, I may as while use my 20/20 hindsight to give some advice as well.

Sign up for email lists

You will eventually tire of all of the vast amounts of campus announcement emails you receive twice a week from what seems like every campus organization. Still, these email groups are so important for your first term or two on campus. One mistake I made in my first year here was narrowing the scope of things I would get involved in. Looking back on it now, I’m sad I did not continue to act here at Carleton. After becoming great friends with two senior Theatre majors (shoutout to Collin and Tosh) when I became an upperclassman, it made me realize how much I missed that part of my social and personal life. If I had gone and signed up for our Experimental Theater Board early on, I might have found a small production to act in and moved on to a Carleton Players Production. I’m on the email list now, one thing that is nice about Carleton is that it’s never too late to start something here, but I wish I had done this from the beginning. So don’t narrow your list to the things you think you’ll have time for, freshman fall is supposed to be the easiest academic term in College, so use that outside of class time to the fullest.

Keep doing something you love

College is famously a time to try new things, meet new people, and reinvent yourself However, going out and doing all these new things can sometimes be discombobulating. Finding something about your life back home that you can replicate here at Carleton makes the transition so much easier, in my experience. This doesn’t have to be a club or a varsity sport; it can be something as simple as making a set time to journal or making sure you get to do yoga twice a week. These activities can help center you as you go through an inevitable period of change over your first term here at Carleton. I made sure that I kept my workout routine from home, so that whenever I was stressed or having a tough day I had an activity where I could let it out and focus on myself, not the 500 people I wanted to be friends with.

Make use of the campus resources

I will fully admit to ignoring every email from the Career Center until about six months ago. I will also admit that that was a really bad idea on my part. While I am glad I chose not to do an internship over my winter breaks, as it gave me some time to unwind, it was certainly a lot harder to know how to go about applying for a job over the summer or figuring out what I want to do now that I’m coming to the end of my time here at Carleton. The best part about our Career Center is that there is someone who is dedicated to each class, so there is always a staff member there who will be able to meet you where you’re at in the job search process. This also goes for our academic help centers on campus, one of the best parts about our Argument and Inquiry courses for freshmen is that they require you to meet with a research librarian and someone at the Writing Center, removing the stress of going there for the first time from the equation.

Concluding Thoughts

This all being said, there is no right or wrong way to spend your first term at College, no matter where you go. Freshman fall is not, and never will be, the term that defines your time here at Carleton. I’ve grown a lot since then, and no matter how long it takes for you to figure out who you want to be and what you want to do here, I promise you’ll always have time.

Will’s (he/him/his) favorite thing about Carleton is the amount of open space that the campus has, as it is a good reprieve from stress. He has seen the movie The Princess Bride at least 20 times, and can recite large portions of it! Outside of the classroom, Will is a member of CHOP, one of Carleton’s D3 ultimate frisbee teams, and is a member of disc golf club and board game club.