Welcome Class of 2024!

To the Class of 2024,

My apologies for the greatly delayed blog post, but CONGRATULATIONS on your acceptance to Carleton! I’d like to extend a warm welcome on behalf of the Carleton community. Four valuable, exciting years lay ahead of you, and Carleton will quickly feel like your new home. Filled with the most wonderful community and surrounded by the most beautiful scenery, Carleton offers an immersive living experience and engaging academic experience, where you will be able to progress and develop, fulfilling your intellectual curiosity and learning more about yourself.

When I was a senior in high school, I found the college selection process to be overwhelming as I found it difficult to choose a school among all the wonderful options that I had. After choosing Carleton, I felt relieved and my feelings were quickly replaced with those of excitement, but also nervousness. I had never lived away from home before, and the Midwest seemed like a long way from sunny California. I hadn’t attended Carleton’s Accepted Student Days, and although I had visited campus for two days, I didn’t speak with many people. All this unfamiliarity caused me to be a little nervous about the start of college.

I realize that this pandemic is an unprecedented situation and is affecting everyone differently, and I hope all of you and your families are able to stay strong and healthy together during this time. But if anyone shares any of these sentiments that I felt as a senior in high school, my advice to you would be to truly relax and enjoy the last few months you have with family and friends before you depart for your next adventure. You’ve clearly worked extremely hard to get to where you are now, and the time period between graduating high school and beginning college shouldn’t be anything other than a time of reflection, relaxation, and celebration. While college may potentially seem daunting, you will be welcomed at Carleton with open arms and I’m looking forward to you discovering your home away from home. Over the coming weeks, I hope to share some of the details that make Carleton special to me and some of my experiences that make college all the more worthwhile.

Looking forward to seeing you all on campus in the fall!