Starting College: Shared Experiences

Engl 165-09 Fall '24

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I feel like I am able to relate to Sarah in many ways. Over the summer, I spent my time working and hanging out with my friends just like Sarah did. Unlike Sarah, who built close bonds with people from home before leaving, I distanced myself from most of my hometown friends and spent more time with my family and new people who were going to Longwood. I went to a concert that was similar to Summer Fest in the story. While she was shopping for school, she seemed overwhelmed and stressed. I felt the exact same way while I was getting my things together to move in. 

Sarah’s experience in this novel starts to vary from mine more once she moves into college. One difference in our experiences is that my friends and boyfriend helped me move in instead of my parents, so I did not say goodbye to them here at Longwood. Sarah was not friends with her roommate prior to coming to college. I already knew two of my suitemates and had a chance to hangout with them over the summer. Since I had people I was familiar with from the start, I think Sarah’s experience differed from mine. She had to start over and make new friends, so her first couple of days on campus seemed confusing and full of questions. I had a group to fall back on during the process of adjusting to college life, so I think I felt more comfortable than she seems to be in the story. 

Although our experiences weren’t exactly the same, the small comments made throughout the novel about classes, emails, and scheduling during her first week of school were funny and relatable to me. It shows how a lot of us are going through the same stressful feelings during this period of change and growth. 



 
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The College Experience So Far (Blog Post #3)

Engl 165-09 Fall '24, Freshman

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While reading the first part of the graphic novel Freshman Year, I learned about the activities which occupied Sarah’s summer before starting college, her move-in experience, and her first week of college. In doing so, I was able to connect some of her experiences to mine, while also seeing how they differed. Some of these activities included having a summer job, hanging out with friends and family, and shopping for dorm essentials. Although we did similar things over the summer, I think the specifics of them are where our experiences vary greatly. For instance, Sarah’s summer job included mowing lawns, gardening, and walking dogs, etc. On the other hand, I worked at a gym as a swim instructor, teaching young children how to swim. In the later part of the reading, I was also able to connect Sarah’s experiences of moving in and her first week to my own. In regard to moving in, I had my family with me just like Sarah. However, she only had her parents helping her, while I had all three of my siblings in addition to my parents. Similar to Sarah, my first week here at Longwood was spent attending required events to get us settled into campus. These events included navigating the campus, attending presentations full of important information, and taking part in small activities, such as icebreaker games to get to know each other. I was genuinely surprised to find all of these similarities with Sarah from my summer and very first college experiences. Despite all of these similarities there are still of course big differences. Some of these would be the university which we are attending, as well as what we are studying; Sarah is undecided, but leaning towards studying English, and I am studying Nursing. Overall, regardless of any differences in my experience compared to Sarah’s, I was able to connect with the story and her as a freshman in college.
Reflecting on my summer and my time at Longwood so far, I am left feeling slightly regretful. I am filled with many different emotions and feelings, but for some reason that is the first one that comes to mind. It is not regret for anything I have done, but for things that I have not done. For example, I regret not spending more time with my friends and family before I left. After this summer I began to realize just how fast time can go by and this understanding only increased since I have been here at Longwood. I am overjoyed at the positive experiences I have had and the incredible friends I have made thus far, but there is so much going on all the time, making it difficult to slow down and enjoy these things. Despite this feeling of regret, I am hopeful that I will soon find a better balance and be able to truly enjoy the wonderful experiences college has to offer.
 
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