August promises new beginnings and bittersweet endings. For college freshmen, it’s a combination of both.
Entering freshman year brings a variety of new emotions and experiences. Slippery Rock University welcomed over 1,500 freshmen onto campus on Aug. 21.
Freshmen Felicity Cramer, Mara Ilko and Daisy Knepp all moved in early for marching band: a week before their classmates.
“It was really interesting because it was really quiet here for a week,” Cramer, a freshman majoring in music therapy, said. “I enjoyed it. I got to explore more before everyone else moved in.”
Ilko, a music education major, described her initial feelings moving in early. “I was excited to get settled before the big rush of people all got there,” she said. “The marching band marches around [during freshman move-in day], and I was like, if I had to move in on this day, it would have been insane!”
While Ilko discussed her experience on move-in day, Knepp found that her biggest surprise came after classes began.
Knepp, an early childhood and special education major, says the thing that has surprised her the most about college is how much her professors care about the students.
“They make you feel like in college they won’t [care], but they do,” she said. “A decent amount of professors actually come up and talk to me.”
Freshmen are exploring campus and finding go-to spots where they spend most of their time.
“I like it when we go to Scarnoti, the marching band practice field,” Ilko said. “I like going over there because when we play, our sound echoes through the campus, and it’s really cool to hear that.”
The three freshman talked about how important they feel it is to manage their time and not procrastinate this semester.
“I’m a big, big, big procrastinator. I need to actually study,” Knepp said.
Similarly, Ilko described what would be toughest for her. “My biggest challenge is the responsibility of the school work and balancing my time,” Ilko said.
Besides the new workload, there are lots of events freshmen are looking forward to.
“I’m excited to perform. I love to perform,” Cramer said. “Also, I’m really excited to get hype at the football games.”
Cramer discussed how she was surprised at how many events are happening on campus.
“At orientation, they talked about having a lot of opportunities, but just seeing, like, ten events every day, it’s really awesome,” Cramer said.
Cramer expressed how she can pursue her interests at an advanced level by joining organizations such as UPB and the choir.
Students can find a variety of events to attend and clubs to join on CORE.
For Ilko, getting involved is part of a bigger picture– using her first semester to build a foundation for the rest of her college experience.
“I think learning about college life and adapting to it is important,” Ilko said. “So I think if I adapt to it well the first semester, it’ll set me up for the rest of my years.”
