This semester, sophomores are turning over a new leaf

by AMAL SURANI

Staff Writer

As the summer air slowly cools, the fall semester at Mary Washington brings in a fresh wave of freshmen. New, confused and unsure, in a place they are scrambling to make their home. Watching these first-years step foot onto the Fredericksburg campus, their sophomore upperclassmen reminisce about when they were in that position, just a year ago.

“I feel like freshmen don’t really know what’s going on,” said sophomore psychology major Gunnar Garrett. “The whole campus feels like a maze,” he said, remembering what it was like for himself as a freshman. 

Similarly, sophomore political science major Carly Gillian’s first year was filled with confusion as she navigated the expansive campus.

“As a freshman, I was just very lost,” she said. “I didn’t really know my way around.”

To help find his place on campus, Garret participated in the New Experiences for Students Transitioning (NEST) program ahead of his freshman year. New Student Programs (NSP) creates and coordinates events that aim to prepare freshman and transfer students as they transition to college. NEST is one of the pre-arrival programs offered as a part of NSP, along with Soft Landings, one specialized for neurodivergent students.

“I basically found ‘my people’ through there,” said Garrett about NEST. 

Sophomore V Vargas-Perez recalls her first time on the Mary Washington campus and all the emotions associated. 

“I was more closed off to the idea of finding my people,” she said. “I was like, well, I’ve already found my people back at home.” 

Vargas-Perez compared her experience as a sophomore to that of freshman year.

“As a sophomore, I feel like even if you hadn’t gotten the chance to learn about a lot of stuff, they kind of expect you to already know that and have some basic understanding of the programs available to you,” she said.  

By the second semester of her first year at Mary Washington, Vargas-Perez came to the realization that she was nearing the end of her freshman year and had survived her first year as a college student. A similar feeling hit Gillian during that summer. 

“I did a lot of reflecting on what I want my next year to look like, or things that I learned,” Vargas-Perez said. 

Done with the chaos of their first year on campus, these students found a stronger sense of confidence in their environment and in finding the people they spend their time with.

Garrett specifically found comfort as a sophomore working as a Resident Assistant.

“Being an RA has been huge,” he said. “It’s helped me expand my social horizons and learn how to be more comfortable with myself and with other people.” 

The journey towards feeling like an insider within the UMW community varies, and it’s normal to go through this period feeling like you are lost or missing something—everyone does at some point.. 

Vargas-Perez’s roommate and friend, Isabel Sowry, is a sophomore theatre major who spent her first year learning and adapting to her new, independent living environment.

“I learned how to live with another person, manage my time and do more independent things I didn’t do in the past,” Sowry said. 

But she admits that isn’t the end of the road. 

“I think there’s still a lot of things, like making new friends, that I did last year that I think I could do better with this year,” Sowry said 

Whether or not students like Sowry feel as if they have officially matured into upperclassmen, or if they have yet to find out where they truly belong in UMW, they are far from where they first started when they set both feet on campus. 

For the freshman reading this, take a breath. The first year can be hard, but if we sophomores made it through, you can too.