On campus for the first time after a year of online classes and activities, Smith College Class of 2024 expressed varying levels of comfort with the social life of the campus. Many concluded their senior year of high school online, during the shutdown of spring 2020; all spent their first year of college in online courses. While sophomores have already adjusted to the academic rhythm of college life, the social adjustment this year is new. For some, it has proven difficult to find a work-life balance.
Emily Swindell ‘24, who was on campus in the spring, said she feels that she has a solid friend group but sees a difference in support the administration has given to the first-year versus sophomore class. Swindell explained, “I don’t feel like there’s been a whole lot of effort to make only sophomore orientation activities because everything is really focused on the first years.”
Kaila Frazer ’24, who was not on campus in the spring, expressed less comfort. “My experience at Smith will not be defined by whether or not I received a tote bag or whether I went to orientation, but I think that I felt a little bit lonely and a little bit at a loss for the first couple of weeks,” Frazer said. “I just didn’t understand how all these first years had become so close so quickly when I felt like I was friendly with other sophomores, but I didn’t feel like I had formed a band of sisters, which I sort of expected that I would. So, it was a little bit of a disappointment.”
Esme Mexquititla ‘24, who was also not on campus in the spring, noted, “It’s a really big adjustment socially, especially coming out of quarantine. Going from not being social at all to being social all the time is just really stressful. It would be nice to get the support that first years have and that we would’ve gotten as first years.”
Although sophomores were welcome to participate in first-year events, those events were not targeted for sophomores. “Going to first-year events makes us feel weird. We want to be second years, but we also want the experiences what we lost without having to be first years. We’re still our own class. We just want the support,” Mexquititla said.
Sophomores on campus last spring experienced a shared bonding experience, which may give them greater comfort with social life now. Swindell said, “it is definitely different making friends this semester than it was last semester. Most of the friends that I have made this semester were acquaintances from last semester or the first semester. I don’t think I’ve actually made any new friends.”
Frazer echoes with a theory of the Zoom-college life. Since sophomores have already experienced some aspects of college and met potential friends online, they are not in a mad rush to make friends. For these sophomores, the college experience is unfolding slowly. Like Mexquititla, Frazer also pointed to the lack of formal orientation. The first years had group adventures such as ropes courses and white-water rafting. These multi-day programs, lasting several hours, had the potential to be immediately transformative for first-year students. Sophomores, in contrast, have seen their college experience arrive in bits and starts, which has made for a different social attitude on campus.
“Watching videos of why you shouldn’t do drugs on campus just isn’t the same thing as sitting in a white-water raft with four people.” Frazer said. “I am a little disappointed that it hasn’t felt as easy to make friends as I thought it would be. And I think that’s because we didn’t get the support that we normally would have,” she added.
Mexquititla added, “I am still figuring out my way around, and I’m still missing home and still getting used to not being home. How do you manage that and still enjoy being here as someone who hasn’t been on campus before? Although we have the experience levels of first years, we identify as sophomores.”
Mexquititla also sees the possibilty for a different orientation for sophomores to experience Smith’s traditions, particularly in regard to Sib Week. Last year, Sib Week was virtual and less effective. Some sophomores simply received the name of a big sib, and nothing further happened. As a result, such Smith traditions effectively skipped a year, creating a sophomore class less tied to tradition.
Frazer maintained good humor over the difficulties experienced by this particular sophomore class, but stateds, “It sort of feels like appreciation of the class. It’s like you didn’t get as many Christmas presents as your sibling and I feel like I should be appreciated for paying you a ton of money and not getting 90% of what you promised in return.”
Sophomores, especially those who were not on campus in the spring, are familiar with Smith’s academic work, but not with campus life. To find a work-life balance in the college environment, some wish for greater support from the college. “We could get more attention. I get it, we’re not first years, but we could really use some support,” Mexquititla said.
In the end, both Frazer and Mexquititla found their friend groups, although they both feel that their groups found them. Despite initial difficulties, both are happy with their decisions not to come on campus in the spring.
As they seek a stronger connection to the social life of the campus, advice from sophomores varies, and includes: asking people for their phone numbers, asking people if they would like to get dinner, creating study groups within classes and joining clubs.
(Photo by Smith College)
