Some Equally Important Advice to Sophomores and Juniors

In the first issue of The Amherst Student, my close colleague Rizwan Ayub ’27 wrote advice for first-year students. It’s an insightful read, but not an exception to the many pieces written annually giving first-years advice on navigating college, love lives, and much, much more. Though these articles can be quite useful, they exclusively tailor themselves to the first-year experience, as if you should immediately know what you’re doing once you’re a sophomore — you should know which clubs you are committed to, which classes support your interests, and know which internships will grant you success in the professional world. I’m here to reassure those sophomores or juniors who don’t have it all figured out that this is more than okay. In fact, as a senior who certainly didn’t have it together after freshman year, I hope I can provide some advice to anyone who may be feeling this way.

Firstly, it’s okay to still be figuring out which clubs and organizations you want to join. When I entered my sophomore year, the only organization I was truly part of was the Amherst Center for Russian Culture as an intern, doing archival work on the collections provided by Thomas P. Whitney ’37. When I attended the club fair that year and a plethora of introductory club meetings later on, I noticed that I was often the only non-first-year in those spaces. If you find yourself in a similar situation, I’m not here to tell you that you won’t feel embarrassed or out of place, but that you should continue exploring in spite of these feelings. Ninety percent of the intro meetings I attended didn’t actually materialize into something meaningful. If I had stopped after the first five meetings that felt uncomfortable or slightly awkward, I would’ve never found that 10% of intro meetings that led to something. You shouldn’t feel any shame for exploring what you’re interested in, regardless of your class year, and if you do, you should learn to outgrow it and put yourself out there anyway. 

Once you do explore the many clubs and organizations we have at Amherst, it may be difficult to figure out which ones you’ll actually stay a part of. I believe that everyone has to feel out their own interests for themselves, but the general rule of thumb I’ve noticed is that you feel the urge to expand and better the organization, not just for yourself but for your current and future peers. 

In my sophomore fall, I first joined The Student for the Sports section, which consisted of just two seniors: Hedi Skali ’25 and Slate Taylor ’25. Joined by, at the time, first-years Toby Rosewater ’28 and Helena Henson ’28, we tried to reimagine what the section would look like because we all had a genuine love for writing and the sports world. I knew very early on that The Student was something I wanted to not just contribute to, but help grow into something better than when I first started.

In contrast, I became a senator for AAS in my sophomore spring. Initially excited about creating a difference on campus, I realized that AAS was filled with a cold and unwelcoming atmosphere, students with personal agendas, and a general lack of agency among most senators. It was not necessarily love for AAS that told me I was going to really commit to the organization, but frustration and a deeper desire to make AAS function the way it claimed to. If the Registered Student Organization (RSO) you’re interested in isn’t what you imaged it to be, you shouldn’t necessarily turn away from it: If you believe in what it can be, I promise you can make a change towards that image. It may take you four years to feel that difference, but the generations of students will appreciate you for it.

You may not initially like the RSO you’re in, or you may immediately love it, but the point you know that it’s something you want to continue with is when you truly care about it. You want to invest not only your time but your efforts into developing that club — for yourself and all students who could benefit from it. It all stems, though, from that initial meeting putting yourself out there and all the discomfort that comes with it. Had I not put myself out there in my sophomore year, I would not be Vice President of the Association of Amherst Students, nor would I have written over 65 articles for The Student.

Secondly, choose your study abroad program wisely, if you choose to do so. I have proudly and without regret spent the past three years in the town of Amherst. I study Russian and Political Science, so I would’ve been interested in going to Moscow or Saint Petersburg if it was a viable option. With the war in Ukraine, and having already been to neighboring Russian-speaking countries, I didn’t really feel the need or desire to study abroad. Being here for both the fall and spring semesters, I got to hear all different opinions on studying abroad. Some friends described study abroad as a crucial part of their education or a transformative experience in their lives. Others said it was an incredibly lonely time and made them miss their friends and the Amherst experience tenfold. One friend went clubbing every other day in Spain. Another barely made friends in England. I’m not here to convince you to go abroad or not to, but I implore you all to think carefully about which study abroad experience you really want. Ask yourself what values and practices you want in your education, at Amherst and especially abroad. Don’t choose to study abroad because you’re interested in a pseudo vacation from your academics. Do the necessary research and meet with the Office of Global Education often. Ask your older peers if someone has done that program before. But take their advice with a grain of salt, since you are your own person and no one experience is the same across the board. If you don’t truly love the program you’re applying to and aren’t excited about what you’ll learn and see there, do not study abroad. Even if you think it’s what you’re supposed to do junior year because everyone does it in college. For some, it can actually be a bigger benefit to stay at Amherst in your junior year. I was able to really expand my personal interests in classes and get to know the class of 2029 because I had a full year with them. Most of you will have the rest of your lives to study abroad; you only get four years at Amherst College.

Thirdly, once you explore, find your niche and build on it. After settling into my clubs, classes, and jobs during my sophomore year, I decided that I wanted to really embrace them. Obviously, with an open curriculum and a fairly inviting environment for all groups on campus, you may feel compelled to explore to a degree that I would say is too much. You shouldn’t stop frolicking through the metaphorical garden that is Amherst College, but you should also find the flowers you keep coming back to and continue to grow them. In an academic sense, find professors or a professor whose work you’re passionate about and develop a strong relationship with them; we are a liberal arts college, after all. With your clubs, consider running for their respective e-boards and get others excited and interested in what you do. For your jobs, again, develop relationships with your bosses and fellow employees. Embrace the intimate liberal arts relationships you find yourself in and grow them. Sometimes you won’t always stay connected with that professor or that club, but you’ll feel more comfortable putting yourself out there and making easier connections with others.

Finally, go make a fool of yourself. You have more and less time than you think as an undergraduate. These four years are what you make of it, and I can attest that you will likely mess up. I have regrets across the board during my time here, but it’s about what you do with the time you have left that matters most. Should, and if, you mess up, take accountability and move on. The decisions you make now or have made in the past will not define the person you are tomorrow, and you should embrace college as a time where you have full flexibility in reimagining yourself. The more time you waste pretending to have it all figured out, the less time you’ll actually have to go and seek it out. The only thing that would be detrimental to your college experience is being in classes and clubs that don’t require any real participation, and only having a bachelor’s degree to show for it. 

If you take away anything, just know that it is never too late to join or create the passions and associations you seek. It’s okay to not know what you’re doing. It’s okay to feel ashamed for not fitting that first-year new member mold. And it’s okay to be a bit foolish while figuring out what you want from your time at Amherst. As a senior, I know my time at Amherst is coming to a close soon. Time is the greatest commodity you have in your life, and only starting to address your interests and passions in your senior year is the one of the worst pains you can experience. I address this advice to sophomores and juniors because you genuinely have more time than you think to invest in yourselves and your community. Seniors have just one year dedicated to theses, grad school applications, and employment opportunities. Embracing your passions, persevering through shame, and putting yourself out there are skills and attitudes I believe everyone should leave Amherst with: Learn them before you’re one foot out the door.