What you see in movies about college is not always what you get. Freshmen are evaluating their first year at GW, and for some, it was not what they expected. The transition from high school to college can be a difficult one, as many freshmen are on their own for the first time. And after their first year in college, some students say they do not even recognize themselves.
Freshman Kristyn Feldner from Skokie, Ill., said she had no idea what to expect from GW, which made her first semester exciting. The one thing she said she never expected was all the free time she had.
Feldner’s biggest challenge was organizing her schedule. Her first semester Feldner said she wasted too much time, and now she’s more devoted to extracurricular activities, including the SNAP program, in which students host prospective students, and honor fraternity Phi Sigma Pi.
“I felt such a need to get more involved because I realized I could make the commitments,” Feldner said.
Freshman Laura DeLucia said she was not sure what to expect or what the people were going to be like, but she quickly made friends with all the people on her floor. But, now all that has changed, she said.
“I thought I’d be best friends with some people, and then it turned out we weren’t as good of friends,” she said. “But I am also friends with people I didn’t think I would be friends with.”
Freshman Adam Reidel said he also found his friendships changed throughout the year. He is now friends with people he was not as close with at the beginning of the year. But Reidel said the hardest adjustment involved small, everyday changes from living at home.
“Suddenly it’s your responsibility to get groceries,” he said.
Freshman Julia Fletcher said her first impression of GW was very positive.
“Because I live at Mount Vernon, everyone there was especially motivated and I really enjoyed that more than in high school,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher said she budgets her time better so she gets work done.
The one commonality among most freshmen is they have become more involved on campus. Reidel is a part of GW’s Recess, an improv comedy group. He said it consumes a lot of his time, but he loves it.
“I think it has been a big factor in adjusting to GW,” Reidel said. “It was a group people I became close to who weren’t only freshmen.”
For DeLucia, crew is a big part of her life. She is a rower on GW’s novice team that practices on the Potomac River Monday through Saturday, from 5:45 a.m. to 7:45 a.m.
“Crew has changed everything about me, like my exercise and eating habits, and I am more mentally prepared for everything,” DeLucia said. “Class seems like a break.”
Most freshmen agreed they have changed a lot since they first came to GW.
“When you are on your own you find a new sense of yourself, there aren’t the same factors as when you are home,” Reidel said.
“I really feel like a part of D.C. now, and when I walk down the street, I think, `Wow, I am in college,'” Feldner said.