Do you have any tips for college life for new students?

Kaliph Brown ’20: “Spend time with people that you enjoy, and not people that you feel you should be around in order to fit in. The thing I love about Dickinson is that you can have a social life without being in any crazy-exclusive club. Here, regardless of whether or not you’re “in” something, the people you know are what build your experiences.”

Caity Kirchberg ’21: “Be friendly to everyone. We’re all coming from different places to this college. We all have something that drew us here, so be open to learning about people’s backgrounds.”

Addie Downs ’19: “You figure out what you’re really passionate about, but school is the priority. Find extra-curriculars that you can see yourself sticking with for four years. The fear of missing out is so real, but you don’t have to always be out with people. It’s okay to be in bed and watch a movie.”

Do you have any pieces of advice that you wish you had gotten in your first semester at Dickinson?

Rachel Witsch ’21: “My advice would be to keep up with the readings. Don’t be too stressed out about your first year, because you’re still learning about the campus.”

KB: “Balance things. I thought I could only do work when I wasn’t around people, but I eventually learned that I could hang out in a group and also get my work done.”

CK: “It’s okay to not do everything. It’s easy to look around and feel pressure to join everything, to be in every club. I wish someone had actually looked at me and said, ‘You can’t do all of this.’ You need to make some sacrifices because otherwise you’re not going to be able to keep up with your grades.”

AD: “It’s okay to be sad, and it’s okay to want to go home. This is all normal. Everyone is trying to be functional without their parents.”

What from your first semester are you most grateful for?

RW: “In my first semester, I met most of my friends by going to the first meetings of certain clubs, like the astronomy club or the gastronomy club… where I got to meet really cool people.”

KB: “I am most grateful for being in the MainStage show… I became close with the people in the theater department. It was a big time commitment, but it was very fulfilling for me.”

CK: “In my first semester I auditioned for Hypnotic, which is our only hip-hop dance group on campus. I found so many people I never would have met outside of Hypnotic. I’m so happy I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone.”

AD: “I did the theater pre-orientation group, and the people I met there are people that I still live with. They are one hundred percent my best friends.”