Freshmen
Hope Kenny, like most of her freshman peers, is looking forward to her first year at the University of Miami. Although academics are her main priority, she said she’s most looking forward to the social aspects of college, like going out with friends and attending football games.
“It’s about finding a balance between academics and social life,” said Kenny, who is majoring in architecture.
She said that she’s aiming to make new friends soon this year, mostly because she’s nervous about the adjustment that comes with leaving home for the first time.
Kathryn Ford, a freshman pre-veterinary student, agrees that building a social life is important. Ford said that she is excited to participate in campus traditions and pride for her school, but admitted that she is most worried about the difficulty of her classes.
“I just want to keep my grades up and take advantage of all the resources that UM has to offer,” Ford said.
Both freshmen shared that their experiences at UM have been good so far, citing the ease of move-in day as a major point of positivity. They said that although temperatures were high, and the elevators were unavailable, the overall process was better than they expected.
“It was really easy to find everything,” said Kenny. “It was really accessible and there were a lot of people helping out.”
Kenny and Ford both expressed excitement for the upcoming school year, mixed with concern over the uncertainty of campus life.
“I’m feeling slightly anxious, but not in a bad way, so I think that’s excitement,” Ford said.
Seniors
With three years of experience as college students under their belts, seniors Emma Lohbauer, Kagan Holley and Alejandro Sanchez are less focused on adjusting to campus life and more concerned about their plans for the future. These students said that they hope to develop post-graduation plans as soon as possible, citing resume building and job hunting as their main priorities for the fall semester.
“Really figuring out what I want to do would be an accomplishment in and of itself,” said Holley, who is majoring in English.
Lohbauer, a computer science student, said she’s focused on completing her resume and cover letter this semester, while Sanchez said he wants to spend more time focusing on resume-building extracurriculars.
“I’d like to take my extra-curricular activities a bit further, kinda start doing my own projects and research, start a programming portfolio, find a job, maybe,” said the business technology, finance and management triple major.
Specifically, Sanchez pointed out that he wants to design an official website for UM’s Council of International Students and Organizations in order to help the club and add to his resume.
Still, seniors have a lot to look forward to besides classes and careers.
“I’m looking forward to the different activities that the seniors do as a final hurrah,” Lohbauer said.
And for Holley, the best part is something as simple as graduation:
“I can’t wait to get through it and see all the hard work pay off,” she said.