Even though a person is only moving up one”level”, the shift between college freshman year and college sophomore year seems monumental (if you ask me).
If you go to Drexel, you know that freshman do not have any classes during the summer of their freshman year. This “break” gives the students a chance to recharge and mentally prepare themselves for the next 3 or 4 years of continual ambition.
Then before they know it the summer is done and its time to repack suitcases and duffel bags.
Welcome to Sophomore year, it is impossible for every sophomore year experience to be the same, but I have noticed some differences between my freshman year as a dragon and my current sophomore state.
Syllabus Week/ Workload
What happened to syllabus week? Are class introductions and course content summaries a thing of the past? Several of my professors this year have jumped right in, giving out assignments on the first day of class.
This point relates to the previous one. Apparently the professors got wind that we were no longer freshman and decided to treat us accordingly. It was to be expected, yet somehow watching my free time vanish was still quite jarring.
While the “you are freshmen, you’ll learn” attitude is no longer present something else is, credibility.
This might not be the case in every major. But being in a design major to me it almost seems as if simply sticking around earns a student brownie points. You can fall countless times but as long as you get back up and stand taller the next time, it will be okay.
Professors get to know the students, and figure out how they learn and work, so rules and assignments become less rigid and are more focused on
development and growth than on rubrics. ( GRANTED, I UNDERSTAND MANY MAJORS ARE NOT LIKE THIS)
Time to do Homework
What are homework hours? It seems as if there really no longer is a specific time to do homework. Many times it is a matter of just fitting it in when you can fit it in. If it is 3:00 am I am not judging you.
Food
Freshman at Drexel are required to get a meal plan that is quite expensive. So, naturally most returning students choose to not get that meal plan again. Some students get a partial meal plan, which is what I did.Some students completely reject the meal plan all together. Either way this tends to result in learning to cook for oneself, which can be a bit of a rocky road at times.
Procrastination
Speaking of learning, by the end freshman year most have learned that procrastination really is our biggest enemy. Whether that enemy is conquered during sophomore year, has yet to be discovered. Pre-Juniors, Juniors, and Seniors could probably give a few comments about that.
All that said hopefully one thing has not changed, that we are still learning. The opportunity to go to college is huge and many people are not afforded it. I for one am extremely thankful that I get to be here despite the the long hours and countless cups of ambition it takes to be a sophomore at Drexel.