First Year in Review: From Fearful Excitement to Eager Ambition

It’s May in Walla Walla. The dogwoods are blooming, the ducklings have captured the hearts of everyone on campus, and the school year is drawing to a close. I’m already almost a quarter of the way through my time at Whitman, which is absolutely wild. I figured it was time for me to reflect on my experience so far.

When I arrived in August, I was simultaneously bursting with excitement and trepidation. In a very dramatic note I wrote on the drive over, I referred to the journey as a “melancholic car ride into the future.” Thankfully, I can now say with certainty that any fears I held were unfounded. The future I found myself driving into was a bright one.

There were plenty of incredible events I could recap here—from my super smart professors to the amazing opportunities I experienced in my first year—but if I’m honest, the most noteworthy parts of my first-year were the moments that weren’t really noteworthy at all. Every hour spent with my friends lounging on Ankeny Field, every smile shared with someone I recognized as we crossed paths, every text I received from someone I wouldn’t have met if I hadn’t come to Whitman—those are the pieces of my first year that I wouldn’t trade for anything. 

Now, I’m only days away from my drive home for the summer, and the melancholy of last August has long since been replaced with the buzz of excitement brought on by the guarantee of good things to come. In fact, I’m a bit sad to leave campus, even if it’s only for three short months. This August promises a car ride back to Walla Walla—a glorious future, if there ever was one.

If you’re out there wondering how to find the school that will make your first (and second, third, and fourth) year amazing, you just need to find the people you want to be friends with and the community you want to be a part of. For me, Whitman is that place—a place like no other.

Zoe Perkins is a first-year from Hillsboro, Oregon. She intends on majoring in Rhetoric, Writing and Public Discourse. Zoe is sometimes too cheesy and dramatic for her own good—but that doesn’t mean what she’s saying isn’t true.