Most people graduate in the spring, receive their degrees during residential college ceremonies, and go to bigger and better things immediately after. A select few end up off sync for a myriad of reasons and instead complete their degree in the winter. Whereas most students are in the class of a year (ex. Class of 2024, Class of 2026), the students that graduate in the fall get to claim Class of “year” + 0.5. Chloe—my suitemate freshman, sophomore, and senior year—is proudly Class of 2024.5.
By the same logic, I am technically Class of 2024+1… indicating my initial graduation year and the subsequent added time. The cover photo of this blog includes a picture from our first semester together in 2020 on the left, and then a picture of us walking at graduation on the right. In these few years, we’ve grown and changed together, side by side, through the highs and lows of college life. College is a whirlwind of experiences, and having someone to share it with has made the journey all the more meaningful. Her undergraduate career has come to an end, and she is leaving a room in my suite vacant :( On the last night of exams, I asked to informally interview her and hear about her reflections on the past four and a half years while we were binging season 5 of America’s Next Top Model. This past semester had us adoring early 2000s reality television. Anyway, here’s the edited transcript of the winter night impromptu interview!
This is the energy of the interview, and also one of the silliest photos of her
—–
Me: “Chloe, how do you feel about graduating in the winter?”
Chloe: Anticlimatic… (she participated in the Class of 2024 commencement in the Spring; there is no formal event in the winter)
“You’re supposed to be positive during this… I’m just going to say you’ve been emotional and nostalgic all day about it being your last day of college (which was true). What are your parting words to someone who still has semesters left?”
Chill out and don’t take everything so seriously. Work hard, but don’t stress yourself out unnecessarily—just relax. I spent my first two years of college worrying way too much about academics and everything really, but once I learned to take a step back and approach things with a calmer mindset, everything felt much more manageable.
“What was your favorite activity / Yale event?”
Spring flings are fun (annual spring concert for students). I also like The Game (our annual Yale v. Harvard football match). I would say do more Yale things.
“What do you mean by that?”
Take advantage of the yoga classes, pottery studios, trips (this is me interjecting but we have gone apple picking and skiing together through these Trumbull-sponsored trips!), and sports games like the one we went to for Princeton v. Yale.
“Yeah, I haven’t done the yoga classes through the Good Life Center yet, or been to our (Trumbull’s) pottery studio.”
You need to do it before graduating!
“What were your favorite and least favorite classes?”
Least favorite was definitely chemistry.
“OH YEAH I forgot you were pre-med!”
Hey, I was considering being pre-med and quickly realized it brought me no joy. (She ended up majoring in psychology with a certificate in data science.)
“Fair enough.”
Anyway, my favorite class… that’s hard to choose. I’d say English classes, particularly Vampires, Castles, and Werewolves which was cross-listed as an English and film class. My TA (teaching assistant) was really cool, and the class was in the art gallery. I also love vampires.
“I know.”
Speaking of classes, I simultaneously wish I had gone to more classes and also wish that I hadn’t. I think it’s not a big deal to miss class every once in a while and not stress about that. This doesn’t apply to every class but does apply largely to lectures. Although… I wish I had attended the lectures I actually found interesting more consistently. This past semester that would be my Monogamy and its Discontents course. I did go! But I could have gone more. The same is true for my vampires class. I also wish we could Credit/D/Fail distributional requirements.
“I agree, and also retroactively.”
Yes that too, but for distributional requirements, everyone is taking a class that isn’t in their field to meet the distributional requirements, it’s only fair to let us Credit/D/Fail. I’ll simply never forgive myself for not Credit/D/Fail-ing Math 115. I needed it to take some other stats classes, but I didn’t need it for the requirements and I guess I never thought about that. Didn’t do that… very upsetting, but it’s fine. My advice to students: use Credit/D/Fail more often.
“Any other final pieces of advice?”
Stay hydrated! (This was a dig at me infamously not using a water bottle for most of my college years)
“Hey, I got better with that over the years. Wait, how is it 2:30am?!”
—–
A wholesome photo to leave you with; Spring Fling is fun—even in the rain—with a friend!
