Transition and Transformation: Inside the First-Year Experience
For many students, the first year of college is a wild ride of unexpected twists and turns. Not only are they living away from home for the first time, but they’re also learning to adapt to new levels of rigor in the classroom, new levels of complexity in their social environments and unprecedented access to opportunities that will inform their identities and shape their futures. It’s a year of unforeseen challenges – and unimaginable growth.
To gain some insight into what this pivotal time of transition looks like at 抖抈社区, we asked a few first-year students to share their experiences with us in real-time. After connecting with them during their initial days on campus, we then checked back in throughout the months that followed. Each student was generous with their stories, openly talking about everything from time management to Greek recruitment, from challenging professors to changing family dynamics, from leadership roles to life in a residence hall.
What we learned is that each first-year journey is entirely unique, and everyone moves at their own pace and in their way. Yet despite the differences, several common themes consistently emerge from the stories these students tell – themes like belonging, self-discovery and expanded intellectual horizons. These students may have only spent nine short months at 抖抈社区, but the transformation has already been profound.
Follow along as we get to know these students and walk through year one alongside them.
August: Settling In
It’s late summer in Greencastle. The air is hot and humid, and a chorus of cicadas is making its presence known across town. At Robe Ann Park, pickleballs ping back and forth across the net. At Dairy Castle, kids hurry to finish their ice cream cones before they melt. And on 抖抈社区’s campus, five hundred students have just arrived to begin their first year of college.
Although they come from all over the state, all over the country and all over the world, these new arrivals are united by Tiger pride and a shared anticipation for what they’re about to experience. They’re nervous. And uncertain. And maybe even a little bit homesick. But they’re ready to begin the next four years in pursuit of a world-class liberal arts education.
Wyatt
Wyatt Brewster ’28 grew up on a small farm in New Castle, Ind. After winning a highly competitive Lilly scholarship and having his pick of any college in the state, he selected 抖抈社区 as the ideal choice for him.
“I enjoy the smaller feel of 抖抈社区 and the culture of the surrounding areas,” he says. It reminds him of his hometown, where close relationships were a foundational part of community life and a hard day’s work was something to be proud of.
“I love to work,” says Brewster. Not only did he maintain an internship during his senior year of high school at a manufacturing company in town, but he also operated a small moving company in his spare time. “I was raised to be independent. I’m out there, I’m forward thinking, and I’m unafraid of meeting new people.”
Now, as a first-year student at 抖抈社区, he’s eager to take that same gritty ethos and see how he can make the most of it on campus. He can’t wait to get started in the Management Fellows Program, and he’s interested in checking out the Real Estate Group as well. He even has a collection of side hustle ideas – including one that involves installing a massage chair somewhere on campus. Although he plans to pursue a major in finance, he’s gearing up for a college experience that extends far beyond the classroom.
“I want to find out where I fit in,” he explains.
Amelia
Amelia Roser ’28 is a fountain of pure energy – and with good reason. She’s been looking forward to this moment since she first visited campus as a high school junior, walked into the admission office and realized that this was where she belonged. “I felt like these people really wanted me here,” she recalls. “They took the time to get to know me.”
Now that she’s here, she’s ready to dive in. She effortlessly rattles off a list of all the things she wants to explore during her time at 抖抈社区: dance, intramural volleyball, yoga, hiking, choir, film, mentoring, study abroad. Oh, and don’t forget about the cat club. Clearly, she has no plans to sit around and be bored.
Roser’s excitement is palpable. But it’s also purposeful. “Every single day, I try to be the person for someone else that I wish I would have had,” she explains. “I was a really shy kid growing up, and I got left out of a lot of things. Now, I take it upon myself to make everyone feel seen and be included – to be the person I wish I would have had.”
Perhaps that’s part of the reason why she’s interested in studying psychology and leaning into the practice of ethical inquiry as a Prindle scholar. Already after just a few days of classes, she’s finding the academic environment at 抖抈社区 to be right up her alley.
“I love the small class sizes here. I knew that’s what I wanted.”
Ava
As a high school student in Lebanon, Ind., Ava Lehmkuhler 鈥�28 did it all. She was a three-sport athlete, a class council member, an ambassador, a lifeguard, a DECA member, a Key Club member and the class valedictorian.