New Student Week From a Few Perspectives

Campus is abuzz with peer-leaders, offices, and professors preparing for the move-in of our wonderful First-Year class. New Student Week is a favorite time of year and I’ve been very fortunate to experience it in many different ways throughout my time at Carleton.

As a First-Year:

I started my time here at Carleton like everyone else. As a first-year, going through New Student Week. 

New Student Week is a time full of traditions. I remember moving in, tossing my frisbee, and meeting a brand new group of people. Every first year has a group of about ten people that they eat all their meals with. This include some upper classmen leaders and peers! 

The week involved many CarlTalks, where we learned a bit about what Carleton had in store for us.

My favorite part of the week was planting a tree in the arboretum!

As a New Student Week Leader:

The next year, in the wake of COVID-19, I decided to become a leader to the first-years coming in. While a bit different than other years – I still had the opportunity to make new connections, show new students around, and in general have a lot of fun. 

I even learned a lot from that year’s CarlTalks!

Some of the people who were in my new student week group are still some of my closest friends. They even got me Friday Flowers on the first Friday of the term!

As a Peer Leader:

The next year I took a different route. I decided to become a Resident’s Assistant, and so I got to be a peer leader in a group of First-Years. I was in Group 6! Our leaders were the best and I was so happy to meet some awesome first-years!

I also did a lot of stuff with my floor. I answered questions about housing and led my floor through a Carleton tradition: NOlympics. This was a unique way to meet other peer leaders, first-years, and start to get to know the people who would be living on my floor with me. 

As an Upper-Classman: 

This year I am finally taking a step back from having a hand in New Student Week, but even when you aren’t actively participating, campus still finds ways for students to inactively participate even past New Student Week. There will be first-years in my classes, and in the dining halls. I’ll see them hanging out in Sayles or studying in the library. 

While my time at Carleton is coming to an end this year, there are many newbies that have four fun packed years ahead of them. I might even get to make some new friends, even if we will just share the campus for a year.

If Margie (she/they) were a place at Carleton, they would be Sayles, Carleton’s bustling student center! Margie is a Varsity Basketball player, is a DJ for KRLX, Carleton’s student-run radio station, and occasionally participates in Carleton Association of Nature and Outdoor Enthusiasts (CANOE). In her free time, Margie works at a food truck!