For many first-year students, arriving at SMU in August can trigger a mixture of emotions. A new environment, unfamiliar faces and the sudden independence of college creates a sense of excitement and uncertainty.
By the spring semester, some students who once navigated campus with hesitation said they now move with greater confidence and familiar routines.
Eva Bertozzi, a business and advertising major from Tampa, Florida, said adjusting to the structure of college required her to shift how she approached her daily schedule.
“The biggest change when I first got to campus was probably managing my time on class days,” Bertozzi said. “I was not used to having free time during my school day, which I think is a pretty common experience.”
Unlike the structured schedules of high school, college introduces a new rhythm to many students’ lives. With gaps between classes and the responsibility of deciding how to use that time, freshman Kendy Taylor, a mechanical engineering student from Houston, said she had to learn self-discipline.
“The challenge was managing long, spread-out days and building in rest,” Taylor said. “At first, it felt overwhelming because I had to learn how to balance everything while taking care of myself.”
Beyond academics, the social transition to SMU can feel equally significant. Bertozzi said she built friendships from scratch and found a sense of belonging during sorority rush.
“Bid Day for my sorority, Chi Omega, was such a comforting day,” Bertozzi said. “It was the best feeling ever to meet so many girls that were just like me. I knew immediately I had a whole family to lean on and go through freshman year with.”
Moments like sorority Bid Day and joining different organizations often serve as important steps for students seeking connection. What initially feels like a campus full of strangers gradually becomes a network of familiar faces.
Still, that sense of belonging rarely happens overnight.
“During my first few weeks at SMU, I definitely felt a bit overwhelmed by the new environment and new people,” freshman Shepherd Carter, a computer science major from Wimberley, Texas, said. “I was having a lot of fun and meeting tons of cool people, but it definitely felt weird at first.”
Involvement in campus organizations also plays a key role in shaping that experience. In addition to her sorority, Bertozzi also joined Reformed University Fellowship, or RUF, a campus Christian ministry.
“I made so many friends during our freshman year Bible study, and I look forward to it every week,” Bertozzi said. “It is a great way to pause your busy day and week and spend some time in fellowship.”
For students balancing coursework, social lives and extracurricular commitments, these spaces often become moments of stability amid the constant changing of college life.
“Different organizations have given my schedule structure and expanded my social circle,” Taylor said. “Through engineering, cheer and my sorority Delta Gamma, I’ve met people from different groups and built a balanced social life.”
As the semester settles, involvement starts to feel less like filling a schedule and more like forming a community. For many students, those shared spaces become the foundation for feeling at home on the Hilltop.
“I really feel like I have found solid groups and I have a strong sense of familiarity with the campus,” Carter said. “I can’t go anywhere on campus without running into at least a few people that I know along the way, which is great.”
The transition to college is often gradual rather than dramatic. Growth during freshman year rarely happens in defining moments. Instead, it unfolds through smaller shifts such as developing new routines and building connections.
For Bertozzi, that growth has come with perspective.
“For next year’s freshmen, I would tell them to lead with kindness and remember that everyone is just as nervous as you are,” Bertozzi said. “Reach out to people in your classes and in your dorm.”
Her advice reflects a common theme among many first-year students: connection requires initiative, but nerves are universal.
