The change from high school to college can be a huge transition for many college students. It’s a whole new chapter in their life. This photo essay documents what most freshman living in a dorm will go though. The intended purpose is to inform others about how freshman begin their new life. Each of the pictures show the different situations a freshman may go through during their first few weeks of college. Even though each college student’s freshman experience will be unique to them, this photo essay displays situations that many freshmen can relate to. For some, college is a very terrifying idea seeing some have never lived away from their parents before, so the photo essay is an attempt to ease the stress and let upcoming college students what to expect. It captures the joys and hardships that ultimately make up memories that they will cherish forever. 

The first picture is the very beginning of college and one of the first things a new college student will experience. A new dorm, just decorated and moved into by two new college students. The reader can tell it’s a new room based on how clean it is. There are no papers spread out on the desks, no clothes on the floor, no trash in the trash cans. And the difference between a dorm rather than a bedroom is the reader can see the bed lofted above the desk, the futon and cushions under another lofted bed with a TV being ahead of the futon. There is no dresser or nightstand or anything else that may normally go into a room. For some, this is the first taste of freedom that they have had. This can be an exciting but also terrifying thought to be independent after being dependent on their parents their whole lives. Many college students are getting paired up with roommates that they have never met in their life, and neither roommate knows if this person will end up being their best friend or a horrible roommate. The two desks show the close proximity that each student will be living in, and also the organization of each desk. One is more cluttered with items and is less organized while the other has less books or other objects to show that they may be a more organized person. Despite these differences, each roommate learns to coexist with each other. It doesn’t matter if the roommates come to love or hate each other, move in day will always be a treasured memory.

The second picture shows what comes right after putting the finishing touches on the student’s new room. Meeting all the people on the floor and finding out where everyone is from and what all they like to do. It can be very easy to make new friends coming to college because everyone is going through the same feelings. Everyone wants to find their new group of friends so they are not by themselves. This photo shows a male only floor with a few people from different backgrounds. Despite these differences, people set aside their differences and looked at what others had in common with them.  The picture shows everyone coming together and meeting new friends while they get to know each other. 

The third picture is depicting another major aspect of college- food. Sometimes students have to run to Russell House on their own to grab a bite to eat for lunch before class, but many students head out to dinner in large groups to eat. Simply going out to get food turns into so much more. In this photo, you see both male and female students coming together. All the food has already been eaten in the picture, showing that people do not just get in a group to eat and leave immediately afterwards, but instead enjoy each other’s company and like to stick around and spend more time with each other. The atmosphere of eating together in college is much different from eating at home. From the plain light fixtures to neutral paint colors to the number of tables and people around you, eating food with your friends in college is a big change from eating with your family each night. Food is just one of the many ways to bring people together, and turns something as simple as going out to food into a cherished memory.

The fourth picture shows the next major aspect of college, which is sports. More specifically to this picture, football. The wide shot shows how much is going on, and how the student is not just by themselves or with their small group of friends. They become something more, a true community out to cheer on their sports team. People from varied races, backgrounds, and personalities are all united by their love for their school and everyone is out there to cheer on their school’s sports team. These massive community events make for an unforgettable memory.

The final photo, and the most important, is the studying that comes along with college. Up to this point in the photo essay, it has been spending time with friends and lots of different people. However, the academic part of college should be the largest part. That is why it is the largest photo in the essay. Instead of all the other pictures with wide shots, this was a close shot and the focus of it was on the schoolwork. The student has a large stack of books and papers in front of him with his laptop open. Without the academics, students lose the social aspects that everyone comes to know and love. While at times students get together to get their schoolwork done together, many times the student will be on their own working to finish everything before the deadlines are due. 

As said before, the purpose of this photo essay was intended to inform people what the freshman experience is like, so the intended audience are rising freshman. Each photo tried to capture the diverse amount of activities and the diverse number of people a student meets. The layout of the pictures did not need anything overly complicated because that is what college is. If a student tries to force it to be something special, they may lose out on what it really is rather than just dumbing it down and going with the flow of what is going on around them. The photo essay was made up of all pictures taken with a camera in the moment the activity in an attempt to capture the memories and feelings going on at the time. Paintings, drawings, and cartoons just would not be able to capture the emotions on everyone’s faces and the atmosphere of the situation. Only pictures taken in the heat of the moment can truly show the joys of college that each freshman can look back on and smile at the memory of that first year. 
