Image taken by Skidnews Photographer Z Allard '23
The first semester of classes at Skidmore have given the Class of 2025 a myriad of things to adjust to. Many of these students have come from a high school senior year where most of their learning environment consisted of their bed and a laptop. They have missed out on having the senior year that they deserved, and now they find themselves as Freshmen once again. They’re facing the challenges of navigating an entirely new group of classmates, an in-person schedule, and splitting their time amongst the many Skidmore clubs and a far more social environment than their remote high school schedules. As someone who has come from a high school where I spent the majority of my last school year on zoom, I was wondering whether other Freshman’s experience with in-person classes was just as liberating for them as it was for me. Thus, I spoke to some Freshman and Sophomores on how they felt going into this semester, how they have adjusted to college life, and how they feel about the balance between their new classes and extracurriculars.
Heading into my Freshman year at Skidmore, I had a picture in my head of what classes might be like, and the reality was far different than my expectations. Classes were smaller, more intimate, less focused on homework, and more focused on discussion. I was intrigued by what my classmates’ reactions were to our first few classes as well. “I definitely thought it was going to be busy,” said Francie Wharton ‘25, echoing my same sentiments. Having busy schedules was common between many students whom I spoke to: “I knew going into it my schedule was going to be very hard,” explained Eve Waldron ‘25. She continued, “I’m taking three intro-level science classes, and I thought I was going to be very overwhelmed with that, but at the same time, I like keeping myself busy.” She was confident when she shared, “I was scared, but I was ready.”
I also asked students if they were enjoying their classes after their first few weeks on campus. “I like most of my classes,” Wharton said. “I think the teachers I picked do a really good job at making time for students and teaching the material well, and so far it’s going at a fast but doable pace.” Bridget Keeler ‘25 had a similar opinion: “I’m happy with my classes because they are a good fit for me. I have a lot of reading, but ultimately it’s not that bad.” Keeler expressed that the class she believed would be the most challenging for her was Psych 101.
Additionally, I thought that it was also important to ask Freshmen how they believed their first semester of college classes have compared to those in their senior year of high school, given the drastic shift from remote learning back to in-person events. Students I spoke to had different experiences, but they all agreed that it was very different. Waldron elaborated that transitioning out of Zoom classes was particularly hard: “Everything’s in person now and I feel like I have to try harder in classes because you actually have to participate. Normally, I am good at participating, but I didn’t realize how much I missed from senior year coming into freshman year. I do a lot more talking this year than I did last year because there was the whole challenge of unmuting and turning on your camera in the online setting.” Overall, Waldron felt like she has adjusted well: “I actually really like it, it's a lot of information at once and I’ve never had 2-hour classes before, and that’s something I am getting used to, but I have adjusted to Skidmore’s in-person environment well.” Similarly, Keeler also noticed a strong difference between high school and college. “During my senior year I was online all year,'' explained Keeler, “Going into college, I wouldn’t say it’s harder, but it’s a lot more notes, and it’s a lot more self-sufficient, there is no longer anyone reminding you to do something.”
Besides all new classes, this semester also introduced Freshmen to the free time and clubs that come with the college experience. With this, I’ve been wondering: How well have students been able to balance free time and classwork? “Pretty decently,” said Ben Van der Hulst ‘25. “I am leaning more towards free time at the moment, and thus I procrastinate a lot, but I’ve been trying to get away from that habit and the clubs and music stuff I am doing helps with that,” he stated. While Freshmen were able to go to club fairs during their first week and freely join many clubs, it has been a different story for the Sophomore class, who had a very different experience during their Freshman year. I spoke to sophomore Max Gould ‘24 about what his first week of college was like last year. “The first week was tough. It was hard to meet people, everyone was a little bit scared to go out of their way to meet new people, and there was just this big fear of COVID on campus,” Gould said. “Without the orientation programs and as many activities, there wasn’t the structure lined up that most students every other year get, where the school pretty much forces you to introduce yourself to people and meet everyone around you. The only way we knew people was through our classes.” As a current Freshman, I was curious about how clubs and extracurricular meetings worked last year, Gould’s answer was that they didn’t function the same at all. “Most clubs didn’t meet, and of the clubs that did meet, most were virtual... for the most part, clubs weren’t around in a large capacity and the events that were hosted had very strict rules,” Gould confirmed.
Gould continued about the struggles of transitioning to college from high school during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic: “Personally, in my first semester, all my classes were virtual except for one hybrid, and that made it harder as a first-year…Classes in college are different than classes in high school, you have a different relationship with professors, and it was hard to navigate that from online. I still haven’t met some of my first-semester professors, so that has continued to affect my support as a student. It was harder to go to office hours, it was harder to ask questions, especially online, and a lot of people had their cameras off, so participation from all of us was generally lower.”
On a more positive note, many Sophomores I have spoken to felt like this semester has given them a chance to experience their first semi-normal weeks on campus. Evidently, I asked Gould how he felt he was functioning this year compared to his last. “Sophomore year has been amazing! I think I speak for all sophomores that we are all just excited to get out there and meet new people and try new things. Especially with clubs being back and club fair having happened, there are just so many more opportunities and so many more things to look forward to that we didn’t have last year.” Gould was assured that there were “so many groups to get involved with socially and academically, ways to do what you love and find things that you love.” While the past year of school was difficult for both current Freshman and Sophomores, both can agree that this semester has been somewhat of a fresh start, and has set many up for a good rest of the school year.