There is no standard college experience. Everyone, no matter when or where they went to school, can say that their time on campus had its challenges and oddities. But it’s hard to imagine a stranger start to college than the class of 2024's — a semester late and taking classes online from our dorm rooms.
The first time we walked through the Van Wickle Gates in February 2021, we wore masks and walked in small groups. Our first months on campus shaped our experience of college — our interests, our friends, our relationship with Providence. That time made us resilient. With only three proper years on College Hill, it made us more willing to dive in to clubs, activism and in-person classes. And when those first months finally ended, they gave way to a memorable (and hot) summer semester.
This weekend, we’ll finally walk through the gates as a full class. Our commencement magazine attempts to capture some of what happened in between those trips through the gates. The high points, the lows and the complex moments in between. The ways in which our campus changed. How our class grew as artists and athletes. The moments where we found community. And the activism that has taken place throughout — and crescendoed as we get ready to leave.
Most of us will not recall our time in college as perfect. But we are also not entering a perfect world. For better and for worse, our years here have felt like appropriate preparation that we will take into the next stage of our lives. We will also take a deep sense of gratitude into that stage —for our friends, families, professors and communities.
This editors’ note was written by The Herald’s 133rd Editorial Board: Will Kubzansky ’24, Katy Pickens ’24, Alex Nadirashvili ’24, Augustus Bayard ’24, Caleb Lazar ’24, Peter Swope ’24 and Kaitlyn Torres ’24.
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