For returning students, starting classes last week was a familiar experience, but for first-year students, it may have brought out a variety of emotions.
Many factors go into shaping how a student envisions their first year at school. The dorms, dining halls, classes and other components all contribute to a freshman’s perspective of the campus.
Students like Ethan Detweiler, a freshman accounting major, found professors to make a significant first impression on their adjustment to college.
“Many of my professors made these first couple days really easy to transition into,” Detweiler said.
Freshman Annie Fink, an environmental studies major, and Kay Budrovic, a psychology major, recall their memorable colloquium professor.
“We love our colloquium professor. It’s crazy. We’re being taught death and dying by the human version of the mixture of Joy from Inside Out, Judy Hopps from Zootopia, and Jess from New Girl,” Fink said.
These professors create a welcoming environment within the classroom to ease the nerves of freshmen.
“I think it’s funny to look back at all the teachers that would say how strict and tough college professors would be when in reality it’s nowhere near true,” Detweiler said. “My professors have seemed so chill and supportive compared to some of the teachers I have had in the past.”
Even with the help of welcoming professors, walking into a college class for the first time can be a bit intimidating. For Budrovic, being in a college setting was not something out of the ordinary.
“I took CCP in high school, so I was prepared for the more relaxed environment in college,” Budrovic said.
However, many students have to adjust to the class sizes.
“I didn’t realize it was over 200 people, but I walked in and I was just like, ‘Oh ok this is a lot of people,’” Budrovic said. “That caught me off guard just because I wasn’t used to that.”
Detweiler was also surprised by the large lecture halls.
“Coming from a smaller school, it was weird sitting in a class that had more people than I graduated with,” Detweiler said. “However, walking in the lecture hall felt completely normal. I wasn’t nervous at all or worried about how things would go.”
Freshmen had similar feelings in regard to how they felt about their first week on campus. When describing this hectic time in three words, Detweiler summed it up by calling it exhausting, overwhelming and fun.
“I think many of us first-year students can relate when I say by the end of this first week, we are just going to want to lay in bed,” Detweiler said. “Being introduced to new people, coursework, and technologies has been simply tiring for me.”
Budrovic and Fink also described their first week as chaotic, tired and hot. With so many things happening on campus, Fink is hopeful that it will get less chaotic as they get used to campus life.
Students also enjoyed seeing the university’s “unofficial mascot” around campus.
“We should make it our mission this year to collect as many black squirrels as we can and put them in our dorm,” Fink said. “There’s so many here, you could go up and grab one. I could name them and they could be my pets.”
With the amount of adjustments that come with moving away to college, students may find many challenges but anticipate the years ahead.
“Being in Kent with friends both new and old has been rewarding at the end of the day,” Detweiler said. “The people here are amazing to be around and it’s exciting to see what the next 4 years will look like.”
Adrianna Quinlan is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
