As second semester approaches, many seniors may be thrilled at the thought of finally leaving their days at Bellarmine behind. The autonomy and freedom that accompanies college life, the anticipation of new beginnings, and the excitement of meeting new people in a new environment are all valid reasons that our seniors may be eager to leave campus and never look back. However, with change also comes anxiety, which many seniors may be feeling at the thought of leaving their home, their community, and the people that they’ve grown up with for an environment that they’re unfamiliar with.
Although high school is stressful and may feel monotonous at times, the comfort of living a life that is invariable is often undervalued. In these cases, where anxiety overrules anticipation, we do what our parents, teachers, and Bellarmine tells us to do: we ask for help.The Lion reached out to recent alumni and asked them questions regarding how prepared they felt for college, any culture shock that they experienced, and what advice they would give to current seniors.
When asked what parts of college life they felt unprepared for, some alumni stated that the workload was larger than they had expected.
“Assignments now require three times the thinking, reading, and writing than in high school,” David Añel (Class of 2025, Freshman at Notre Dame) stated. So, almost all who were interviewed emphasized the importance of time management. This comes in handy not only in managing the work that is assigned by professors, but also in exploring all of the opportunities that are available.
Brynn Manke (Class of 2024, Sophomore at Brown University), stated how important it was to reach out to professors to form relationships. “I didn’t realize that you could go to office hours just to work, focus, and chat, and not only if you had pressing questions, until a few weeks into my first semester. And, I was pretty intimidated by my professors at first!”
Alumni reflected on the confidence that Bellarmine gave them in networking and joining new clubs and activities. Alumni were then asked about any type of culture shock that they experienced. Their answers were all based around the independence that they gained in college—the freedom to skip class, create your own schedule, and take a weekend trip.
Additionally, some stated that the lack of community was surprising, especially coming from Bellarmine, where community is highly regarded. “As someone at such a big school like UW [University of Washington], it’s easy to miss the community back at Bellarmine. UW feels more like a collection of communities on one campus … I would say that college is not a place you come from, but a place you just go to,” said Jameson Cosgrove (Class of 2025, Freshman at the University of Washington).
Although, with a lack of cohesiveness also comes new people and experiences to explore: “Another new thing to me is people from all around the world, so many different cultures and religions to learn about and it’s just a fun thing every day to learn something new about where someone is from,” stated Yvonne Cruz (Class of 2025, Freshman at the University of Chicago Loyola).
Lastly, the alumni were asked about what advice they had for seniors going into college. David Añel said his best advice was to “Surprise yourself. Don’t only do what worked well in high school, because college is not high school.”
Maya Krattli (Class of 2024, Sophomore at Northwestern University) said to “Take it easy for the first semester so you can get adjusted to college life” and to “Seek out adventure.”
Lastly, and most well received from students, Dylan Bianchi (Class of 2024, Sophomore at University of Washington) advises seniors, “Once your first semester is over and all your college apps are done you should absolutely COAST. Getting an A your second semester of senior year is vanity. Just get by and really prioritize spending time with the people around you, because you’re going to see much less of them soon and you will miss them.”
All in all, the class of 2026, you will be missed and will miss one another. Your older and wiser former classmates advise you to enjoy this time and reap the benefits of the Bellarmine community—you may never find anything quite like it again. And while it is important to remember where you came from, it is also important to embrace the new places you all will call “home.” As long as you don’t walk into the wrong classroom more than twice, you will be just okay.
