I said in a previous post that sophomore year was going to be a year of great expectations.
Of course I should have known that predicting life is impossible. Thus far, sophomore year has been incredibly interesting and nothing that I would have ever imagined.
At the end of freshman year and into the summer, I, like most of my peers, had my older friends fill me in on what to expect in my second year. In a mix of excitement and nerves, I began to speculate my own experience, thinking that I would avoid whatever pitfalls my upperclassmen friends had in their sophomore year. I wanted to make the most of my sophomore experience – even to recreate freshman year.
Thanks to this speculation process, I envisioned my sophomore year to go, well, not like the way it has been going. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this- you cannot predict life after all- but it’s interesting to see the similarities of my own sophomore year to that of my upperclassmen friends’. I have to say, they were right about many aspects of the year, and it’s only a month in.
For instance, the minute I heard that New Res wasn’t exactly the most socially friendly environment, my roommate and I decided to change that. We had this whole plan to introduce ourselves to as many people as possible on our floor.
Unfortunately, due to both a lack of a decent doorstop and our schedules, we were unable to do this. I missed our first floor meeting due to my obligations at The Signal, so I only can base my impressions of my floor off of what I’ve seen- and I haven’t seen much- and what my roommate and two friends said. Everyone really does have their own friends, myself included, and I can tell that not many people have the drive to go out and make even more friends. Complacency seems to be a key factor in sophomore year.
That being said, sophomore year is also a time to distinguish true friends. Not everyone that you are friends with in freshman year will hold true for the next few years. I can’t exactly say too much on this matter presently since it is so early in the year, but I’m noticing slight changes. Some friendships grow stronger, certain ones have been restored and other relationships are slowly evaporating. I’m a firm believer in everything happening for a reason, so if relations drift, perhaps it’s for the best while other people continue to maintain a presence in our lives purposefully.
Most of my upperclassmen friends also told me that they were able to discover their own interests outside of their [freshman] floor and meet new friends by becoming involved on campus. People tend to join clubs and other organizations more in sophomore year than in freshman year for various reasons. Motives aside, by joining clubs, you capitalize on your college experience. I’ve been told that people who are active on campus have a more fulfilling college experience as a whole.
Thanks to activities, friends with similar interests begin to surface. Now, you’re not just randomly thrown together with people. Instead, you surround yourself with assorted groups of individuals who like the same things that you do. I have to say, through my involvement with CUB, I met so many great people. I also have my journalism and freshman year friends.
Just a month in, I have already met so many people and life has been very curious, both in experiencing a shift in friend dynamics and simply being a part of organizations. However, it is nothing that I expected and everything I was told to anticipate all at the same time.
So maybe certain sophomore year shortcomings are just a part of sophomore year. They’re unavoidable. Meanwhile, making new friends becomes a component mostly associated with joining campus clubs, going to class, and, if you’re lucky, meeting a few friends on your floor. True friends surface from your freshman floor while others fall behind. It’s all about drive and motivation in sophomore year- from classes, to activities, to maintaining and creating friendships.