If you could go back in time, BatesNews asked eight seasoned Bobcats, what advice would you give your first-year self?
“I would just tell myself to stop being so scared,” said Izzy Eichenbaum ’21, a psychology major from Lakewood Ranch, Fla. “I was terrified before I came to Bates — which is just insane looking back, because I totally went above and beyond what I ever expected and just made this place my own.”
Guiding tours and conducting interviews, Eichenbaum, six other current students, and one recent graduate were working for Admission during the busy summer of 2019 when BatesNews invited them to the video studio to reflect on the first-year experience.
From eight young Bobcats, advice to the Class of 2023. (Theophil Syslo/Bates College).
“Just say yes,” advised Maddie Sirois ’21, an economics major from Maplewood, N.J., who’d actually gotten that advice the first time around from an older sister.
“Just say yes to opportunities that you wouldn’t normally like to take … because sometimes that’s where you find something you’re really interested in.”
And then there was this tip from biochemistry major Anna Gouveia ’22 of Jonesborough, Tenn.: “Don’t forget to bring shower shoes. I had to stand on, like, a folder in the shower for the first three days.”
Here are the other five Batesies we spoke with: Zach Collester ’19, Doylestown, Pa.; Sean Anderson ’20, Houston; Kyle Larry ’21 and Michael Hogue ’20, both of Chicago; and Muskan Verma ’21, Shimla, India.
