I have been thinking a lot lately, about you, New Purple Class of 2022. As a member of what will soon be the Old Purple Class of 2018, we have more in common than just the color purple, although that is the best class color, you should know. We, you and me both, are beginning new and unfamiliar chapters of our lives. Thrilling and nerve-wracking chapters, and if there’s anything the past four years have taught me it’s that you never know what to end up.
This was taken during orientation first year
I remember, that when I visited colleges as a high school senior I would always ask the same question. This is after I got over my fear of asking any question whatsoever in the first place, a fear you shouldn’t have at Wellesley. The question was, usually to a current first year: what do you know now that you wish you knew your first year?
Well, dear future Purple Class, I am in a position to answer this question: if not in an all-encompassing manner than at least in an honest one.
- You don’t need to start big. You don’t need an internship at NASA, or Goldman Sachs, or on the Moon your First, Second, Third, or even Fourth year to get where you want to go. Make the most of every opportunity, and use each opportunity to get you closer to where you want to be. No opportunity is too small. And please, please, don’t get caught up in comparing your opportunities to your peers. It may seem like everyone here at Wellesley is glowing in accomplishments, but you should never forget your own. Easier said than done, I know. But everyone has their own path, and you will get there in your own time.
- When they say academically challenging, this means you will need to ask for help. You will need help from your professors in office hours, you will need help from your friends the night before big exams, and you will need to help yourself. You will need to know which boundaries to draw when it comes to your self-care. My first-year, I was in the library until midnight most nights, and it didn’t have to be that way. So please don’t be afraid to seek the resources and relaxation you need.
- College is great. But I feel that sometimes, high-school builds it up so that college is the end-all-be-all destination, a kind of four-year summer camp of joy…with a side of textbooks. College is the journey, not the destination, and the sooner you can stop comparing your experience to what you think college should be, and appreciate it in the moment for what it is, the happier you will be.
I wish you nothing but the best, my dear future Purple Class. It’s bittersweet, turning over the class color, but I know it’s in good hands.
Ever lovely yours,
Eleanor
First year me, first time on the swing