Top Ten Tips for Incoming First-Years (From an Outgoing First-Year)

3 students eating burgers
By Hasana Parker '25 (1) Get a nice lamp for your room. Good lighting makes all the difference in your room! Warm lighting makes your bedroom feel homey and changes the look of your room completely. My roommate and I turned on the overhead lighting in our room like 5 times during the school year because we just absolutely loved the lamp I got off of Amazon. (2) Bri...
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Ramen and Yogurt and Pie, Oh My!

image of Emily's column about breakfast
By Emily Kim ‘25 “You’re a what columnist?” That is how people typically react when I tell them my position on The Student Life (or, TSL) , our 5C-wide student newspaper. “Food columnist,” I respond, chuckling. “I write about food.” Though I always knew that I wanted to participate in student journalism at Pomona, never did I think that I would be able to write about s...
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Learning to Dance in the Rain

illustration of character with umbrella
By Seohyeon Lee ‘25 As an incoming first year, I was excited to explore my wide-ranging interests at a liberal arts college. I was eager to learn how to ask my own questions instead of memorizing textbooks to get better grades. During my gap year, I started making an impossibly long list of activities I wanted to try in college. Four years seemed long enough to try all of th...
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Roller Skating After a Chemistry Midterm? My Experiences in Pomona Scholars of Science

students around long table in restaurant
By Giuliano Richetta ‘25 Taking a college class for the first time can seem daunting. I grew up hearing rumors about weed-out classes, huge lecture auditoriums, and professors who are not interested in getting to know you. A lot of times, the first response I got when I told people I wanted to major in STEM was “good luck!” Before being accepted to Pomona, I prepared myself ...
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The Wild National Parks Near Pomona

Emma Grace in a canyon
By Emma Grace Howlett ‘25 While life at Pomona College can be invigorating, I still look forward to breaks for a chance to explore off campus and recuperate from excessive studying. I spent both fall and spring breaks this year exploring the two national parks within reasonable driving distance of Pomona: Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Park. Coming from such a lush...
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Reflections on Having a Roommate

Hasana with Cecilia in background
An Ode to Blaisdell 119 By Hasana Parker ‘25 Before coming to college, having watched one too many college roommate horror story videos on YouTube, I was a little worried about having a roommate. I thought that, if I had one, I would be lying awake in my bed with one eye open, afraid that they would cut my hair in my sleep or pee in my shampoo. For me, the fear of potential...
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Do You Love the Beach Like I Do?

Bilal and 2 friends at the beach with Santa Monica Pier in background
By Bilal Adamjee ‘24 I love the beach. When people ask me, ‘What brought you to Pomona College?’ the beach always comes up. The beach does remind me of home – that, and the warm weather and palm trees. It was honestly a big factor in deciding where I wanted to study when I first started my college applications in high school. I was born and raised in Kenya, where I’ve spe...
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Get some sleep! Play a song! Get that ice cream!

Emily with friend Steph in graduation robe, holding bouquet
By Emily Kim ‘25 Roughly two weeks ago, I finished my first year of college! This finals season was particularly tiring for me: on Monday I had a computer science exam (though I was glad to get it done early on in the week); on Tuesday I spent the entire day writing a final paper for my Jane Austen class; and Wednesday and Thursday were dedicated to finishing a project and s...
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How To Ask for Help When You’re Drowning in a Scary College Class

illustration of ghost-like figure with question marks and anxiety around it
By Seohyeon Lee ‘25 I was clueless about everything when I started my first year at Pomona. As an international student from South Korea, I didn’t know what to expect from going to college in the United States. I was happy to get into a good liberal arts college, but I was terrified that I would face a steep learning curve with very little preparation. Looking back, I did...
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Dealing with Stress

work harder sign
By Porter Reyes '25 As an eighth-grader, I went through the stressful New York City high school application process. Being thirteen, I had no idea how to manage my stress; I even broke out into hives. But now, after finishing the high school application process, the college application process, and my first semester of college, I have learned some valuable stress-management ...
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