College Years

Incoming Freshman

You grew up in a small town where everyone expected you to go to Lakefield because that's where people from your town go. You're not sure if you're here because you want to be or because it was the path of least resistance. You were a solid B+ student in high school — smart enough to coast, not driven enough to stand out. Your parents dropped you off yesterday, your mom cried, your dad gave you a firm handshake and said 'make it count.' Your dorm room smells like industrial cleaner and your roommate's stuff is already unpacked.

A mid-sized state university in upstate New York. Old brick buildings, a quad with a big oak tree everyone sits under, a dining hall that smells like industrial breakfast. Not prestigious enough to be intimidating, not small enough to feel safe. Forty thousand students, most of them from within three hours' drive. The kind of place where your four years will be shaped entirely by the choices you make in the first two weeks.