It’s been almost a month since the class of 2030 set foot on campus. After a hectic month of Wildcat Welcome, the first day of classes, and the first football game in a brand new stadium, now is the perfect time to ask the question: How have freshmen settled in?
As a freshman myself, my friends and I talked about club applications while eating in the Allison dining hall. Other freshmen that we encountered there also talked about the club culture at Northwestern. “I didn’t expect it to be as competitive with clubs at Northwestern. I didn’t know the culture was like that here,” said Sofia Kekalainen, a freshman. Another freshman Ari Tang also echoed the point, saying that the clubs were harder to get in than she thought.
And maybe freshmen are all going through the same thing now. Keklalainen says the biggest challenge so far is making friends.
Adjusting to college is already difficult. But when you have to adjust to a new country and a new school, it’s double the struggle. Taehee Kim, a freshman from South Korea, shared, “sinced I used to live in Korea for 18 years, my entire life, it was kind of hard to adjust in this type of culture.”
Then I asked freshmen how much they feel they have settled in on a scale of 1 to 10. Surprisingly, they all gave the same answer: 7. Kekalainen says she is slowing getting her routine. Tang says she is a bit homesick, but she likes it here. Kim shares that she is happy to meet great people.
To bring that seven to a ten, we decided to seek advice from the people who have been in the shoes just a year ago: the sophomores. Sophomore Emanuel Morales-Gomez reminds freshmen that they should never lose themselves amidst the chaos. Sophomore Chloe Cohen adds on, saying, “the things you want to do doesn’t all have to happen in your first three months.”
Everything takes time, but the class of 2030 is starting off strong. But for now, good luck to all the freshmen on their first-ever midterms!
For WNUR News, I’m Youjin Sohn.