Dear first years (and second, third and fellow fourth years),
Before we were the co-editors-in-chief and executive director of The Kenyon Collegian, we were also first years who dealt with our own fair share of questions and embarrassments. Now, as seniors, we have picked up some things along the way. Take it or leave it, but here is some advice from your resident washed-up journalists:
Go to trivia.
The beginning weeks of your first year are a disparate dissolution of icebreakers, forced friendships and Quest for Justice remarks that oscillate from questionable to borderline cancelable, all fusing together, making a deliciously acrid primordial soup of firsts. Likely, your time here has been a choir of voices, each telling you to relish these awkward moments induced by first crush fiascos, unspeakably long unshowered stretches and Peirce-induced gastrointestinal stress.
In all seriousness, please shower.
Still, these rites of passage will blend together, becoming part of the version of yourself you tell your spring semester friend group about, prefaced by a knowing “remember when…” These will also be the images of yourself you remember once again when you begin your fourth and (hopefully) final year at Kenyon. Be awkward and weird while it’s acceptable. It will make for a funny story down the line, even if now it’s just an embarrassing Yik Yak.
Kenyon is a singular place — lean into it and on each other. Alumni will tell you that the sense of community here is unlike any other. Despite what they might have said when you toured, Middle Path isn’t the beating heart of campus. Instead, it’s campus-wide Peircegiving excitement, going to your friend’s a cappella performances and your professor’s office hours (especially just to talk), saying the honest thing in class and discovering the joy of being seen and cared for in return.
You will most certainly have experiences that will feel like the hardest things you’ve ever done. Learn to see Kenyon as a forge molding you into a more capable, fuller version of yourself. This said, appreciate being at the helm of your own proverbial academic ship. For what may be the first time ever, you have the agency to move in whatever direction you choose, and you have a plethora of resources at your disposal.
Break up with your first semester boyfriend. The odds are not in your favor.
Don’t be scared to try new things — join an intramural sports team, start a radio show, or maybe even write for us! We can each confidently say that signing up for the Collegian has shaped our trajectory and time here. Kenyon has over 100 student organizations and groups, so there’s no shortage of ways to get involved, to meet new people and to find niches that feel like your own. No matter how eclectic or esoteric you think your interests may be, there is a place for you on this campus.
Sign up for the art loan.
Ask questions! The Hill is replete with faculty, upperclass students and staff members who would gladly assist you with anything and everything you might need. No one — or at least no one that matters — will think you are stupid. We’ve all walked into the wrong classroom, introduced ourselves to someone whose name we immediately forgot or asked for directions only to realize that we were standing right in front of our destination.
Remember, the measure of a Kenyon student is not their GPA.
Take time for yourself. It can be easy to go through the weeks and find that you’ve been nonstop all day every day. Carve out a couple of hours a week for your hobbies and more for your friends. Your worth here is not measured by your productivity. Unfortunately, the stress Olympics here are real, but only if you let them be.
Use the panini press.
And, seriously, don’t step on the seal,
Madeline, Mercer and Erik
The staff editorial is written weekly by Editors-in-Chief Madeline Lawler ’27 and Mercer Thomas ’27 and Executive Director Erik Kim ’27. You can contact them at lawler1@kenyon.edu, thomas5@kenyon.edu and kim16@kenyon.edu.