Freshman jitters set in at colleges

By Mariah McGarraugh
Staff Writer

Freshman year at a big college campus can be intimidating for a lot of people. It’s a year when students have to make a lot of important decisions, like, what sports they want to join, what clubs they want to be involved in, what other activities they want to enroll in and possibly what major they want to strive for.

Elizabeth Kipp, a Hutchinson freshman starts her day at 8 a.m.

“I go to school from 8 till 11:30 Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays,” Kipp said. “Tuesdays and Thursdays, I go to school from 8-2:40, which for me is a long day, considering nights I work until close.”  Some students balance school and a job, which can be a hard thing to do especially your freshman year.

“I like my classes a lot, but I regret taking the 8 a.m. classes, and will definitely not do that next semester,” Kipp said with a slight laugh.

There’s one thing most freshmen find new and sometimes intimidating when getting settled into classes at HutchCC – Learning Zone.

“I really don’t check Learning Zone as much as I should, so a planner has helped me keep track of all my tests and assignments,” Kipp said. “I guess you could say I’m used to teachers ‘holding my hand’, so that was a very big difference switching from high school to college. I have to make sure I know when my assignments are due and where to find them, which really isn’t discussed in class.”

Then, there’s a complete opposite side of things like for Nylo Swank, a Hutchinson freshman.

“I think Learning Zone is a good effective way for students to keep track of school work as well as keeping students and teachers on the same page,” Swank said. “It’s easy access to my work, and every teacher has a syllabus and office hours you can find in Learning Zone.”

Students seemed happy to be at HutchCC even if that meant getting up at 8 a.m. till next semester. Delaney Brunch, a Hutchinson freshman, talked about how her favorite part of HutchCC was the people and community.

“My favorite part about college so far would have to be the people you meet and the activities the school, and even the professor set up,” Brunch said.

Being a freshman can be a lot to handle at first but having a good support system like frends, family, and even teachers can help ease the nerves. There’s always teachers to lend a hand during and sometimes after office hours and even tutors on campus to help with the stress of tests and assignments.

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