Reflections On My Pandemic Gap Year

Emma Grace with a large piinting showing blue roots of tree
By Emma Grace Howlett ‘25 I had long looked forward to my high school graduation year, 2020, as a year of opportunity and excitement, not anticipating that many of my plans would have to be rewritten. Just as I never imagined I would live through a pandemic, I never envisioned myself taking a gap year - yet that is exactly what I did. Instead of attending Pomona College v...
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How to Start a Club (It’s Really As Easy As the Tour Guides Make It Sound)

club meeting
By Danny DeBare ‘22 When touring Pomona as a prospective student, I distinctly remember the part about clubs. From “250 clubs to join throughout the 5Cs”, to “half a million dollars the Pomona student body doles out,” clubs ground many students’ experience at Pomona. And truly, if you want to create a new experience or bring together a group of students for the first time, f...
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The Beautiful Flexibility of a Small(ish) School

Chris Meng with his admit letter
By Chris Meng ‘23 Pomona College has all the amazing perks of a small school without sacrificing the overwhelming variety of resources of a bigger college. If it weren’t for the flexibility and spirit of exploration built into the values of Pomona, I wouldn’t be here today as a first-year student. Let me tell you about my winding path to Pomona. To begin, I wasn’t accepte...
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Shattering My Routine Through a Gap Year

with friends in Ecuador
By Danny DeBare ‘22 It feels weird and, to be perfectly honest, sort of pretentious. When introducing myself on campus, I constantly find myself adding “But I took a gap year!” to almost every conversation. I am a first year. But, at the same time, I’m not; I lived in Ecuador for seven months before landing at Pomona, stretching my comfort zone in a year outside the traditio...
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