Decoration Day

January 2024

This month, we asked our writers to reflect on the school year that just past and write a letter to the class behind them on what they learned

Dear Freshman

Gracie Smith
MSMU Class of 2027

No one prepares you for the emotions you will feel as you move into your first college dorm. No one prepares you for the feeling you get walking to your first class as a college student. No one prepares you for the responsibility that rests on your fragile, naive shoulders. Nevertheless, the things you will experience during your freshmen year of college will be some of the most important life lessons you will ever have to face.

One thing my mother told me on my move-in day was that everyone was in the same boat as me. None of us knew each other, we were all leaving our families, and we were all in this together. Truer words have never been spoken. That being said, the fear of the unknown slowly began to dissipate.

Going into college, it felt like I only had my mom to lean on. There are so many things I wish I knew to help me get through it more smoothly. This brings me to share some things I wish I knew going into my freshmen year of college.

First, and perhaps most importantly, never be afraid to ask for help; the only one you end up hurting is yourself. If there is one thing I’ve noticed about the Mount community, it is that everyone wants you to succeed. The Mount has so many ways to aid you in your success during this difficult transition from high school to college. From peer tutors, office hours, the Writing Center, CSES, and even your classmates, the only thing stopping you from achieving your goals is you.

Second, call your loved ones. You aren’t the only one going through this transition, and it’s important to surround yourself with people who’ll love and support you through it all. You’ll have your good days, and you’ll have your share of bad days, but make sure to communicate how you feel to people you can trust. Keeping it all inside will only hurt you.

Third, go to events held on campus. I know sometimes you won’t feel like it, and sometimes your bed just sounds really, really comfortable after a long day, but getting out and having fun is essential for you to be successful. Being able to balance your school life and social life is the most crucial part of college. Besides, going to events on campus is a great way to meet new people and destress from your assignments for a bit.

Fourth, create a routine for yourself. Set an alarm every morning so that you are making the most of your day. Don’t fall victim to a bad sleep schedule; it will only create more stress and anxiety. Making sure to incorporate three meals a day into your schedule is important. Luckily for you, your meal plan is for three meals a day during your first semester. Don’t be like me and eat one meal and maybe a cosmic brownie a day. Fueling your body and mind is going to help you make wise decisions and learn better.

Fifth, explore the areas around you. Emmitsburg is a small, small town, but there are so many neat things around you to do on the weekend with your friends. One of my favorite things to do freshman year was visit Gettysburg. Walking the battlefield, visiting museums, eating at unique restaurants, it was such a nice breath of fresh air only ten minutes away from campus. Another common thing people do on weekends is visit Frederick. While I hate driving in Frederick, there are still so many things to do. Plus, it’s only 25 minutes from campus. Of course, the Mount also has several sports games on campus that you could attend, sometimes being on campus is easier and more comfortable.

Sixth, don’t be afraid to try new things. This one sounds cliche, I know. However, the Mount has so many extracurricular things to be a part of I can guarantee that you’ll find something. Don’t be afraid to get involved in as many things as you’d like. You might even surprise yourself.

At this point in my letter to you, I’m going to entertain a series of much less "serious" tokens of advice. Some of them might not apply to you, but I will still share them anyway.

Seventh, always get your food to go. You want your food to stay hot for as long as possible, and you never know how much you’ll eat. At least this way, you can take your leftovers back to your room to eat later.

Eighth, doing your laundry on weekdays is easier than doing it on the weekends for obvious reasons. The washing machines and dryers are very particular, so make sure you take care while washing your clothes, and be courteous to others. Don’t leave your clothes in the machines for more than 10 minutes after they are done.

Ninth, schedule a time once a week to clean your room. Living in a dirty dorm room hurts your productivity and makes you overall less comfortable. Wash your dishes, vacuum your rugs, clean your desk, etc. You will feel so much better afterward.

Tenth, find a place to study that works for you. The Mount has countless places for you to study aside from your dorm room. I grew quite fond of studying in the Mount Cafe since I tend to be a loud typer and was more comfortable. The library has several tables, quiet areas, classrooms, and couches for you to study. The Knott Academic Center has empty classrooms for you to use, the Honors lounge, and tables and chairs throughout the building. I am positive you will find something that works for you.

All of this being said, I want to leave you with one last tip. Be confident in yourself, you can do this. At the Mount, we are one big community that helps and supports one another. You got this.

Read other articles by Gracie Smith

Letter to incoming sophomores

Devin Owen
MSMU Class of 2026

Congratulations! You made it through your first year of college—phew! I have learned that there’s three typical feelings towards the end of your first year of college: 1. "Oh my God, that was the best year ever! I love college and being free," 2. "Thank God that nonsense is finally over for three months," and 3. indifference. Personally, at the end of my freshman year I fell more into the second category. As you have now ended your first year of college and are entering into your second year here at the Mount, I encourage you to keep an open mind and be ready for a year both easier and harder simultaneously. As I have just recently finished my sophomore year at the Mount, I’m looking back at it with much more fondness and love than I had for my first year. Sophomore year is the year where you begin to really feel your place at Mount; you’re more comfortable with the environment, you have your people, you know where you’re going, you’ve found the places that you enjoy visiting, you’ve navigated how to drive on Fifteen, and you have made the Mount a ‘home away from home.’

This past year has been an absolute whirlwind of emotions. This was the first year that I actually felt at home at the Mount: I managed to find a job waitressing and, of course, writing for the News-Journal; I found a great group of friends—some of whom feel more like siblings than friends—and a dynamic was created in my suite, with my roommates that made me feel a sense of comfort and joy. It became a place where I felt free. One of my favorite parts about this year was living in a suite compared to a two-person dorm. Instead of there being two of us, there was actually a total of four of us. The first week of classes we spent the entirety of our nights bingeing the ‘Twilight Saga’ film collection—one of our roommates had never seen it, so we deemed it a ‘rite of passage.’ This is what we refer to as our "honeymoon phase," which ended as soon as we got situated with our new routine, and then the arguments commenced. It’s only normal though; all people tend to have disagreements and the four of us were no exception. Having roommates is much easier after your freshman year because you’ve become accustomed to living with another person after your first year at college—my roommates and I found it significantly easier because we all grew up with siblings.

I spent a very large portion of my sophomore year drowning myself in work, both schoolwork and my job off campus. I left very little time for myself to enjoy what college has to offer. That would probably be my one regret about this past year, I could have experienced a lot more if I gave myself the time. I even had to work on my anniversary with my boyfriend, so we didn’t get to celebrate together that day! That is not to say though that I regret working hard and making money entirely; I just wish I had given myself some time to have fun as well. There were a few times I got to go enjoy the things that typical college students at the Mount could enjoy though, usually because my boyfriend would drag me out of bed on a Saturday night and tell me that we’re going to socialize with our friends. My work schedule allowed me one night on the whole weekend to go hangout with friends and colleagues; however, I was always either completely exhausted from work the night prior or wanting to be well rested for work the next day. That being said, it took A LOT of convincing to get me out of the comfortable confinements of my suite on a Saturday night. I can recall though a few times that I felt absolutely thrilled that he managed to get me up though—one of which was when we went to an Artic Monkeys concert with some friends in early September. It was an experience so wonderful that I cannot even put it into words. We found out a few days afterwards that this tour was their last as the band was retiring, so it became something I am thrilled to be able to say that I experienced.

One of my favorite things about sophomore year was making such a close circle of friends. My roommate Abby and I didn’t do any sports, but both of our significant others were on a sports team at Mount, which meant that their friends ended up becoming our friends because we were always around. These were the people who were always there to pick me up when I was down, from picking me up from the doctors during my (numerous) concussion check-ups, to lying on the floor with me during finals week while I cried because I was just so over it. These people became the main reasons I loved this year so much, and by the end of it we were all sad to have to say, "see you later." Abby and I were almost entirely glued to each other’s hips this year, and both of us being English majors led us to having a lot in common, including the classes we took each semester. It feels so good to have someone who you can get along with so well and look to for help when it’s needed; I hope everyone gets to find their own Abby here at the Mount.

With all of this in mind, I hope that all of you upcoming sophomores get to have a year filled with ups and downs, moments of joy, sadness, challenges, lots of laughter, and a year full of experiences to look back on for the rest of your lives. The world is only what you make it; and while you don’t know everything, nor will you ever, don’t let that deter you from experiencing the world with all it has to offer.

Good luck on your sophomore year! You got this!

Read other articles by Devin Owen

Dear Junior

Dolores Hans
MSMU class of 2025

This year has been one of the hardest and simultaneously most joyful of my life. The low parts of this year hit like a ton of bricks, but the joy I found, my surrounding friends, and the person I’ve become made it worth it. The beginning of junior year feels like you are losing something good and gaining something challenging at the same time. It’s a heavy burden to carry, to be losing the comfort of your past and be handed more responsibility and big questions. But I have faith in you.

I had no expectations for my junior year of college, other than what I had seen in one of my favorite shows, "Gilmore Girls," which retrospectively, was a lot like mine. Main character Rory Gilmore is given an opportunity for a summer internship in a newspaper company. As the summer ends, she is told by someone above her that she doesn’t have what it takes to make it in this career. Because of this, she becomes discouraged and even though she has known her entire life that she wanted to be a journalist, after one person puts her down, she begins to question everything. She decides to take some time off from school and her first semester of her junior year is spent losing sight of who she is and what she wants. It’s not until a friend of hers really asks her what she is doing and why she is doing it, and reminds her that she is capable, that she decides it’s time to get back to school and continue to pursue the career she loves.

The summer before my junior year, I was stressed about finances, roommates, feeling lonely, not knowing if I was on the right path, and dreading the semester to come. Through my tears one night, my dad told me I didn’t have to go back, and I heavily considered taking time off. Although I ended up going to school anyway, it was not easy. I started off with a lot of hope, then lost some. I felt lonely, with my good friend and my boyfriend both studying abroad, 3,000 miles away with a five-hour time difference. But I made lots of friends too. We were preparing for an internship in my education classes, and it was very hard to see the fruit of what I was learning. I felt unsure.

Spring semester I began my teaching internship, and I had someone tell me that I didn’t have what it takes. I was so discouraged I began to question again if I was on the right path. Like Rory Gilmore, I have always known I wanted to be a teacher. I have been in teaching roles since middle school. I have been caring for kids since I was a kid myself. This is my path. But it didn’t take much for it to all come crumbling into a disorganized and very sad mess of a plan. I had to find my courage.

This year, you will discover what it means to take courage. When you are facing defeat, you are beaten down and discouraged, hold your ground. Remember why you are doing what you are doing. Remind yourself that you are capable.

In the end, you will learn what is most important. I may have struggled with my future, but I knew who my friends were. In the present moment, everything was just as it should be. I went on adventures, developed healthy habits, made friendships stronger, practiced patience and graciousness, and fell in love with the present moment. Enjoy today. Be courageous.

In your junior year, you’ll feel the pressure. You’ll be looking back on what your life once was, grieving for the life you used to know, and you’ll be looking ahead at what’s to come, frightened of the uncertainty. But through your grief of your past, you’ll find a secure foundation. And through your fear of the future, you’ll find passion.

My hope for you is that you will bounce back. When you take hits and go through hard times, you’ll learn lessons and emerge stronger than ever. In your life, hold onto goodness and the purist moments, and let go of that feeling of dread. There is nothing coming your way that you can’t survive. There is nothing you’ll go through that will be solved by quitting or losing yourself. You can do this. You can persevere.

As this year comes to its end and I contemplate what my senior year may be like, I plan to keep the strength I developed from junior year and carry it over into my last year at the Mount. I know now more than ever that my friends and family are my rock. They are the ones who know me best and will help me stay on my path. I also plan to devote more time to prayer. A lot of the hopelessness and loss I felt this past year was because my faith wavered as I tried to take control of my future rather than hand it to God. If I stay close to Him, I am in good hands. Remember, God won’t give you any challenge or any cross that you can’t bear. When you come to face something difficult, ask for the grace to overcome it and God will be there by your side.

My last bit of advice to you: make this time count. Don’t waste your energy and time on meaningless things like overdrinking and drama. When you look back at your junior year, as I am now looking back on mine, I won’t remember the things that caused me pain or the things I thought brought me joy but truly didn’t; I’ll remember all the good that occurred instead, but I will never get that time back. Don’t spend what little time you have to be taking opportunities for your future or to be developing relationships or to be improving yourself on the meaningless and fruitless. Take advantage of the chances given to you and aim to be great. You can do it!

Read other articles by Dolores Hans

A letter to incoming seniors

Claire Doll
MSMU Class of 2024

Dear Mount Class of 2025:

I write this to you a week after my graduation. It feels surreal to say that I am officially a Mount St. Mary’s University Alumna, that I am no longer a college student; that the past four years have come to an end, an end I never imagined, but simultaneously one that I have been awaiting. The irony is illuminating.

The week immediately following my graduation, I travelled to one of my favorite places: Shenandoah National Park. I planned a graduation trip that doubled as a getaway, and I spent the next five days with little to no cell service. In fact, I deleted Instagram and Facebook simply to disconnect. I filled my days with gorgeous waterfall hikes, wineries in the middle of nowhere, and plenty of mountains. It was a wonderful way to celebrate graduation, and because I had no social media to check, it allowed me to truly reflect on the last four years.

Sylvia Plath says it best in her novel, The Bell Jar. As protagonist Esther Greenwood spends a college summer in New York City, she says: "All the little successes I’d totted up so happily at college fizzled to nothing outside the slick marble and plate-glass fronts along Madison Avenue."

It’s true. It’s so overwhelmingly true, how everything you once obsessed over simply fizzles away in the shadows of the real world.

I spent years maintaining a 4.0 in college (only to lose it to an A-). I stressed over publishing my creative writing, I cried over essays, and I celebrated academic awards for a moment before marking them on my resume and never thinking of them again. College in general creates a rigorous, competitive culture that rarely prepares you for the real world. In fact, you must go out of your way to prepare yourself for these experiences.

It wasn’t until I flew to London, wrote for the News-Journal, or began student teaching that I truly understood how the real world worked—how to travel, how to communicate with others, how to have a job. When I reflect on my favorite semester of college, I think about the four months I spent with my middle school students: waking up before the sun, teaching lessons, and building a life beyond college. I cherished my student teaching semester more than any other.

This is not to say that the academic experience in college doesn’t matter. In fact, the Mount’s curriculum allowed me to grow as a critical and creative thinker. I have loved my professors, my courses, and my learning.

I just want any incoming senior to know that this time you have at the Mount, or at any college, is precious. You’ll graduate, and you’ll get the job, so long as you work hard. Living with your best friends, going to Ott’s on a Saturday night, driving to Gettysburg in the middle of the week for a coffee—it goes away. Remember these moments, and keep them close to your heart, for these are the memories that last longer than any exam or essay will.

But I also want incoming seniors to know that the year before you graduate is a fragile time. It’s filled with choices and questions, late nights of job-searching and conversations you frankly don’t want to have. It doesn’t matter if you decide to start working, or go to graduate school, or take a gap year: you will be judged.

My decision to begin teaching this fall was one that raised eyebrows. I heard the following from several people: "I taught for five years, and it was terrible. I couldn’t do it." Or "You’re too nice to be a teacher." Or "My husband teaches, and he hates it." I also heard from professors that they imagined me flourishing elsewhere. It was rare that I received an honest congratulations for my decision to teach, and it was often that I cried over my ability to follow an ages-old dream.

And when you are judged, you tend to compare. I admit to spending countless nights on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, scrolling through accounts of people I hardly know, thinking to myself, "If I had just done this…"

College is a breeding ground for comparison. I promise that when you step out into the world, you’ll find yourself so far from your fellow graduates. Your peers, your professors—they all become people, normal people. You have the choice to constantly worry about what they’re thinking and doing, or you can grow excited about your own unique, fruitful journey.

Spending a week in the mountains was the perfect post-graduation trip. My mind is clearer, my thoughts collected. While I am eternally thankful for the Mount, I am also relieved that my college chapter is complete. Senior year is difficult. You spend years building a life here, only to leave. You think your first job will be your only job, or you panic over having no job, and the eyes of every peer and professor are on you, watching.

As one of the newest graduates of Mount St. Mary’s University, I urge you to discern what matters most to you, and then follow this with all your heart. Do not let anyone irrelevant weigh his or her opinion. Apply to all the jobs, then pray. Delete social media; learn that you’re peering through rose-painted glass. Stay up all night with your roommates. Drive down Annandale Road with open windows on a starry night. Pop champagne in front of Bradley Hall. Frame your degree, because you deserve it, and it was worth everything you endured. Go on that post-grad trip. But most importantly: Thank everyone who led you to this moment.

And congratulations, from me, for getting to this point. I know how tough it feels, but I also know how rewarding it is. I want to especially recognize Assistant Managing Editor Dolores Hans for embarking on her senior year. By the end of summer, she will begin leading the News-Journal, and I can’t think of anyone more worthy for the role. Like all incoming seniors, Dori is blazing her own path, and I am so excited for her journey; I know she’ll live significantly in her unique, amazing way, just like all Mount graduates do.

Read other articles by Claire Doll

Read Past Editions of Four Years at the Mount