“I wish Princeton felt like this.”

A comment from my fellow classmate after my short film (shown above) was screened for my digital animation class.

I think it’s fair to say my animation has quite a calming undertone. I wanted to capture the monotonous yet beautiful moments of my days here at Princeton - the simplicity of studying in Firestone Library during the early mornings, my bike rides across campus, and the much needed coffee breaks at Coffee Club. 

While I love to honor these small moments, I think many students, like my classmate, often experience a very different day in the life of Princeton. What I see at Princeton, which is often a love for these small moments, is not what everyone sees. But what I’ve learned during my time here is that Princeton can be so many things - too much to sum up in a day. 

Incoming freshmen often want a description of what a “day in the life” looks like at Princeton. Of course I could generalize my experience as stressful and overwhelming while simultaneously everything I could ask for in a college experience. It’s hard to describe the beautiful stressors, challenging moments, and new experiences that go on here. Ultimately, Princeton is a very unique college experience inside the “orange bubble” - an almost alternative universe on campus where you're swept up and time passes in odd ways.

But there are so many nuances in an experience. The description above, and further my own animation, fall short of describing so many aspects of Princeton: days where you’re in Firestone from sun up till sun down studying, memory making late night chats with roommates, or even how campus comes alive in spring as students flock to Cannon Green for picnics and frisbee games.

Princeton is too large to sum up in one day or one animation. Further, I think it’s important for incoming students to realize that Princeton is not a “day in the life”. No experience is. Despite being in the same academic and physical environment, everyone experiences college differently - hence the disparity between how I view Princeton through my animation and my classmate’s reaction.
But with this comes an important lesson; the reason we experience things differently is partly due to how we choose to perceive life around us. Our own experiences are ultimately what we make of them. At the end of the day, Princeton is what you make of it. So how do I answer the question: “what is a day in the life like at Princeton University?” It’s up to you to tell that story - my only advice, remember the sky's the limit.

In the past two years I have been at Princeton, I have worked at 4 different jobs. Most of these jobs were posted on JobX — our website for student employment opportunities — and ranged from working at Firestone library to writing for this very student blog. Each opportunity has given me the privilege of acquiring very diverse experiences and I am always amazed at how many incredible people I’ve met along the way. Here are a few of the jobs I’ve worked at since coming to Princeton:

Marquand Library: I’ve worked at Marquand since I was a Freshman. Nestled in Floor C of Firestone, a typical day at Marquand looks like sitting at our front desk, welcoming patrons, and occasionally doing a scan of different manuscripts and books that students, faculty, and staff request. Working here has always felt special to me — not only because it was my first job at Princeton, but because it is the perfect job to get my day started or to end a long day. I can always know what to expect and I enjoy working with the staff, who are all so knowledgeable yet welcoming. Coming in for a shift here never feels exhausting. If anything, this library serves as a home away from home. 

ELA Conversation Partner: I’ve worked for McGraw as an ELA conversation partner for the past year and I’ve been able to meet incredible people through this program. Each week, I meet with two graduate students for an hour and we work on their conversational English speaking skills; sometimes we will grab coffee and other times we will go grocery shopping. There really is no set agenda — I coordinate and plan our activities and each week will vary dramatically. This job has given me the honor of getting to connect and build relationships with the graduate students here at Princeton; learning how radically different yet similar our lives are from one another has truly been a fun experience.

Communications Intern: As a communications intern for the Princeton Entrepreneurship Council, I’ve been able to do some amazing work with some truly accomplished people. The council consists of 5-6 other individuals who each play an important role in their respective ways. My job is to liaison and interview Princeton alumni, students, faculty, and staff so that I can write a story on the entrepreneurial work they’ve done and the impact they hope to achieve. This has truly broadened my perspective on what entrepreneurship entails and the expansive resources Princeton has to offer. At this job, I get to enjoy learning new things and meeting new people.

Admissions Blogger: The blog you are reading right now is a product of my work as an admissions blogger here at Princeton! When I was applying, this job appealed to me because it provided me a creative outlet to express myself. Moreover, this role enables me to share my Princeton experience while also giving back to our community in a small way. As a blogger, I usually attend monthly meetings and brainstorm on potential topics I’d like to talk about. Then, I write the stories you get to read! This job has really deepened my understanding of student life here at Princeton, not just by reading the other student blogs but also by reflecting on my own experience.

Deep within the C floor (one of three below-ground levels) of Firestone Library, you’ll find my favorite aisle, QL. This aisle is home to books on some of my favorite subjects: zoology, wildlife conservation and natural history. Sometimes I’ll find myself wandering down there to check out a book or two, just because. 

I like to think that there is an aisle in Firestone for everyone, regardless of your academic or personal interests, whether it be French cinema or feminism, cellular immunology or ancient Chinese texts. With over 70 miles of bookshelves –– if you laid them end to end they’d reach from Princeton to New York City –– you can always find something to spark your curiosity here. 

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Aside from the extensive variety of genres held within Firestone’s walls, there are several other aspects of the library that I think make it really special. As a Firestone Tour Guide, I give tours of the library to prospective students, and I like to share some of these lesser-known discoveries with my tour groups whenever I can. 

• Personal librarians: Every undergrad at Princeton is matched with a personal librarian. This is someone you can go to with any questions regarding your research or book-finding needs at Princeton, whether for writing a paper for a class or compiling sources for your thesis. I’ve gotten personalized emails from my librarian every semester checking in on how I’m doing, which always puts a smile on my face.

• ReCAP / IvyPlus: Princeton students have access to ReCAP, a storage facility located near campus that holds 17 million volumes. If there is ever a book, manuscript or journal that Firestone doesn't have, chances are it can be found at ReCAP. Requests submitted to ReCAP are often fulfilled within the same day. Princeton is also part of the IvyPlus network, which allows students to have materials sent from Columbia, Duke, Harvard, Stanford and other universities in the event that Princeton does not have them. 

• Data and statistical services center: This center can help with any data processing or visualization needs you might have in any research you do at Princeton. They have specialists on staff you can meet with about any and all questions you have relating to data. 

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• Collaboration Hub: This space on the first floor of the library has Apple TVs, soundproof collaboration rooms with floor-to-ceiling whiteboards and more. I think that this space really reflects the attitude of collaboration over competition at Princeton; working on projects or studying together is common here. 

• Dixon Collection: Something that I think is fairly little-known on campus is that Princeton students have access to thousands of e-books and audiobooks of pretty much any genre for free. Whether you’re looking for a good beach read or the next crime thriller, you can find it here! 

• Special Collections: This is definitely one of my favorite parts of Firestone. The special collections is home to Princeton’s rarest and most valuable books and manuscripts. Through a student tour of the Scheide Library within special collections, I've seen a Gutenberg Bible, an original Bach manuscript, and a recipe in Emily Dickinson's handwriting. Many rare items are available for Princeton students to request, handle, and research, which I think is pretty amazing.

I hope I’ve convinced you that there really is something for everyone in Firestone (or, one of Princeton’s eight other libraries!). Who knows, with enough exploration you just might find a favorite aisle of your own.

I still don't know exactly what my concentration will be. When I applied to Princeton, I thought I was going to concentrate in the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA). However, in the middle of my first semester, I started to have doubts. I began to seriously wonder if SPIA was the right path for me. A semester later and I am more unsure about my concentration than I have ever been. What contributes to my uncertainty is the fact that Princeton offers so many interesting opportunities that I am torn between so many departments, research and funding options. While I am still unsure about what my concentration will be, one thing is certain, I will write. A LOT!

I remember reading somewhere that Princeton is one of the universities that places emphasis on writing. This is one of the reasons why all students are required to produce a senior thesis before they graduate. This is also why all undergraduates are required to take a Writing Seminar, either in the fall or spring semester of their first year. Writing seminars are intended to introduce first-year students to academic writing. There are several seminars that students can rank before they are officially assigned to one. I attended mine, WRI 167/168: Justice Beyond Borders, in the fall. I remember one day, as we were discussing Kant's main claims in "Towards Perpetual Peace", a staff member walked into the room and introduced us to a wonderful resource: The Writing Center.

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Essentially, the Writing Center offers free 50-minute and sometimes 80-minute one-on-one appoinments to students in which consultants help them work on writing assignments, ranging from 3-page essays to 20-page research papers. Consultants are undergraduate students who are trained to provide guidance on writing assignments. Personally, I see the Writing Center as an accountability checker. I schedule my appointments days (even weeks) before the deadline for my essays. My thinking is this: if I have a writing consultation scheduled, then I need to have something written. There are even times when I don't have an essay to receive feedback on. Sometimes I only have rough outlines or just broad ideas. However, scheduling a consultation forces me to set time aside to at least think about my writing assignment and to get someone else’s perspective on my initial ideas.

The consultants that I work with always listen to me and ask questions that help refine my ideas and push them further. When there is really nothing to think about, they propose exercises that encourage reflection on specific parts of my essay. Wherever you are in the writing process, they've got you! That's the beauty of the Writing Center. In fact, the consultations I found most useful were the ones where I didn't even have a draft. It is important to note that while no two consultants are the same, at the end of every appointment, I always feel ready to embark on my next step in the writing process.

I see the Writing Center as a group of students who not only listen to me talk about my ideas, but also help to formulate them into words, and ultimately in a "coherent, sensitively argued and well-written essay" (by the way, these are the comments that one of my teachers made on an essay workshopped by the Writing Center. It really works guys!)

This is just my experince with The Writing Center and while others may have a different take, I can say that it has been a helpful tool for me and it may be helpful to you as well. And who knows, maybe I will be a Writing Consultant by the time you come to Princeton and I will consult your essay!

It’s crazy to me that I graduate this year - and there’s still so much I want to do at Princeton. Here’s a bucket list of everything I have to do before I leave (sob).

Go to the top of Cleveland Tower. The grad school tower is a Princeton landmark, and it’s right across the golf course from Forbes College, where I live. In fact, in sophomore year I’d see it every morning from my window when I woke up. But most people don’t seem to realize that you can actually visit the top of the tower and take in crazy views of campus

Explore Firestone’s extensive collection. I recently discovered rows of graphic novels and comics from my childhood deep in its lower levels, and spent an afternoon flipping through pages rather than studying for my exams. Firestone Library may be a great place for studying and research, but there’s so much more - odds are, they’ve got stuff on anything you’d be interested in reading. And the library itself is so sprawling that there are so many out-of-the-way nooks and crannies. 

Explore all the buildings on campus. Firestone is just the start of it - there are so many buildings on Princeton’s campus that I’ve definitely not fully explored. There are dinosaur skulls and hidden cafes and sixth-floor rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows where you can watch the sun set over campus. Apparently, there are tunnels connecting some of the science buildings…

See a Triangle Show one more time. Every year, I’ve made sure to watch the student-led theater production put on by The Princeton Triangle Club. My sophomore fall, I was actually off campus during opening weekend, and Ubered specifically back to campus just to catch the show. It’s a tradition. Last time I heard “Old Folks Home,” I practically cried. 

Eat at all the dining halls again. Each residential college has a dining hall, and during our first and second years, everyone pretty much eats in one or the other - whether it’s which is closest after class, or which has the best looking menu, or which is closest to the lazy friend you’re meeting for dinner. As an upperclassmen, however, most people begin to eat in their eating clubs, co-ops, or independent plans. But everyone still gets two meal swipes per week at the dining halls of old - I’ll make sure to give each of them a go around for old times’ sake.

There's a lot I'll be doing for old times' sake this one last spring - but I think as always, Princeton will throw new and unexpected experiences my way. The bucket list will probably be a lot bigger - and more checked off - in just a few months. As they say in "Old Folks Home," Princeton is truly first rate.

My best friend introduced me to Chancellor Green Library during our first few weeks on campus.  We quickly bonded over our love of this peaceful rotunda. The library often teems with busy students, including me.  Something about the beautiful atmosphere makes my stress dissipate, at least a little.

Chancellor Green, while a library in name, does not have a circulation desk. There are shelves full of the most random collection of novels and nonfiction books. I’ve seen everything from Toni Morrison’s "Tar Baby", to an outdated guide to getting into law school, to Professor Keith Whittington’s "Speak Freely", the book about free speech chosen by President Eisgruber for everyone in my class year to read before our first semester.

The library contains four oversized brown leather chairs with matching ottomans that are by far the most comfortable chairs I’ve ever sat in. My favorite chair is the one with the best view of the entrance and the stairs leading up to the top level. This makes it easy to spot other friends who also gravitate towards this study space.

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The only noises to be heard in this peaceful abode are the whir of the air conditioner and the occasional whispers. The quietness makes it a productive place to complete my assignments. Full conversations are not exactly tolerated here. Most of the time this holds true, except one afternoon when there was an opera rehearsal while I was trying to study. There are lots of events in Chancellor Green because it is such a beautiful place.

Chancellor Green is also a prime napping location. There have been countless times I’ve come here looking for a seat only to find the comfy chairs taken by students fast asleep. Several times, I entered the library only to find a student napping in my favorite chair. When they got up, someone else sat down and promptly fell asleep.

Words cannot fully describe the magnificence of Chancellor Green. I am already dreading the days post-Princeton when I can no longer sink into my favorite chair and think about how lucky I am to be here.

I live a segmented life of places. At home, I painstakingly arranged my bedroom so that my desk would be as far away from my bed as possible. I wanted a space for work and sleep, but I much preferred working outside my room when I could. I sat at the same seat for my family’s dinner most nights. I liked to park my car in the same spot in my school’s parking lot whenever possible. I hated reading in a new chair at the library, instead preferring to have a dedicated spot.

Although the pandemic upset this segmentation, this semester, I have been able to create new relationships once again between places and mental states or activities. This has been a delight on a campus as small as Princeton’s. Things accrue meaning as we assign it to them. Here at Princeton, each time I visit a place, it gets a specific meaning related to what I use the space for.

Every morning, I get breakfast at the same dining hall and sit at the same place if I can. McCosh Hall, where I have the pleasure of taking a “Worlds Made with Words: Old English Poems that Perform” has become a place of linguistic contemplation, a lovely morass of caesuras and alliteration and translation problems. 

As a humanities student, I rarely make it down to the math and science buildings. However, this semester, I have Semantics in the physics building called Jadwin Hall which has thus become a spot for challenging headaches as we seek to create a logical system to encapsulate the way English works. Robertson Hall, where I have an introductory African American Studies class, is the place I associate with the most captivating lectures.

I know the brisk nighttime walk to and from Prospect Avenue, where Princeton’s eating clubs are located. I have a favorite place to study in the basement of Gordon Wu Hall. My single dorm room in First College has become a space of relaxation and sleep, as often as I can manage it.

Princeton’s small campus allows my mental geography to map onto a real place. I walk everywhere I need to go, which helps me grow my map visually. The walk to each class or library primes my brain to do the work I need to do there. Of course, I try to explore the campus too and break out of my routine, even as I experience and re-experience places of familiarity. But the physicality of places here is something that I try to celebrate every day.

By now, many members of the Great Class of 2025 are excitedly planning out their first-year fall.  Although planning for a new chapter in your life is certainly exciting, there is a lot of information out there about Princeton University and trying to memorize it all is impossible.  Tiger Bloggers, Patrice and Grady,  hope that this post will put some of your anxieties to rest, by letting you know what you do and don’t need to know, from current Princeton students.

Before arriving... by Patrice McGivney

Do: Think about what you’ll bring to campus.

Consider what you will want on hand in your college dorm room, what you have room to take with you and what you can purchase once you get here.  There’s lots of sample dorm room packing lists all across the Internet, and a post by fellow blogger Naomi Hess, so I won’t repeat anything here. If you live very far from Princeton, be sure to consider differences in climate and environment. This post I made earlier will hopefully help you out! 

Don’t: Plan out all four years.

It might be tempting to plan out your next four years in advance, but to get the most out of the college experience, you’ll want to be open to new ideas.  Many students discover a concentration they never would have considered in high school, take up a new sport or hobby, or find an unexpected employment opportunity during their time here.  You’ll also have plenty of faculty, staff and peer advisers to help you plan once you get here.  

Do: Spend time with friends and family.

Especially if you’re moving far away, your time might be limited with good friends from high school and your family once you’re a college student.  Make the most of your summer, whatever that looks like for you, and take plenty of pictures to hang up in your dorm room to remind you of your loved ones.  

Don’t: Be scared!

The transition to college is a big one, and it can be nerve-racking.  But Princeton is a wonderful and welcoming community, and you’ll do amazing things here!  

When you’re here... by Grady Trexler

Do: Try all the different dining halls.

There are six dining halls at Princeton: four residential, a graduate dining hall and the Center for Jewish Life. For the first few weeks of the semester, I just ate at Wilcox, which was closest to my dorm, but I quickly learned to try other options. Each dining hall has a different vibe, and some nights, I’m just in the mood for a Whitman dinner.

Don’t: Ask other students if they’re also first-years.

This was more embarrassing than I expected it to be — you meet someone new, you think they look just as confused as you are, so you ask them the dreaded, “Are you a first year, too?” only for them to tell you that they are a senior. Mortifying for everyone involved. Try “What's your class year?” instead.

Do: Form study groups for your more difficult classes.

This was something I didn’t do a lot in high school, preferring to get my work done alone, but I quickly felt out of my depth in some of my harder classes. The earlier you can form a study group with your peers, the better.

Don’t: Walk to the library without your computer.

A companion piece of advice — don’t get all the way to the library and realize your laptop is back at your dorm (or, for that matter, your notebook, your pens, etc.)

Don’t: Get locked out of your room.

At Princeton, you carry a “prox” everywhere you go — a student ID card which accesses buildings (including your dorm) and holds your meal swipes. Don’t leave this inside your dorm room or you, like me, may find yourself locked out of your room on a 30 degree Fahrenheit night in February, having to trek down to Public Safety to get a temporary card.

Well, there you have it — our nine do’s and don’ts for your first semester. Are we experts? Not at all. But here are just a few things we’ve learned!

This is now my fifth reading period at Princeton, but it’s the first one that I’ve been at home for. What is this so-called “reading period,” you may ask? All written work-- papers, projects, etc.-- are due on Dean’s Date at 5 p.m., and then exam period begins after that. So between the time that classes end and written work is due, we have about two weeks to prepare. This year, classes ended on Tuesday, November 24, and Dean’s Date is Tuesday, December 8. Typically on Dean's Date, there's a huge celebration on campus hosted by USG (Undergraduate Student Government) with food and giveaways. Last year, we got cozy blankets and we had various delicious treats from Nina's Waffles, Milk n' Cookies, Dunkin Donuts, Tot Cart, and more, with music by the Princeton Band! 

Personally, I love reading period. Although it can definitely be stressful with papers and exams coming up, Princeton gives you plenty of time to get your work done. When I’m on campus, I study with friends at Firestone Library, attend self-care study breaks and stay up late chatting with my roommate. Princeton really cares about your mental health and well-being, and they understand that you need a sufficient break between the end of classes and the beginning of exams to rest, relax and prepare. And I definitely look forward to celebrating with the Princeton community at 5 p.m. on Dean's Date. 

Now that we’re all caught up, what does reading period look like at home? Though we won't be eating Nina's Waffles on December 8 in McCosh Courtyard together, there are some things that will stay the same. Here’s what my typical day looks like: 

9:30 a.m.: Wake up and post on Instagram (I run social media accounts for local small businesses).

10:00 a.m.: Cook and eat breakfast, typically eggs and toast or a bagel with cream cheese. 

10:30 a.m.: Look up primary sources on Firestone Library online for my paper on Media Lengua, a mixed language in the Andean highlands of Ecuador. This is for my course, “Languages of the Americas.” The databases have just what I need to gather research for my paper! 

11:30 a.m.: Take a break to pet my cat and give her fresh water. 

11:45 a.m.: Start working on my paper for “Writing About Family.” I decide to write on the memoir "Men We Reaped" by Jesmyn Ward. I’m curious about how ideas of home interact with physical descriptions of houses in the text...my thesis is TBD! 

12:15 p.m.: I have somewhat of a thesis for the “Writing About Family” paper, so I move on to brainstorm for my creative project in “Jane Austen: Then and Now.” I’m creating an Instagram account from the perspective of Mary Crawford, a character in Mansfield Park. I start planning out all of my Instagram posts and captions. 

1:00 p.m.: Lunch time! I eat leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner, and after I’m full on mashed potatoes and turkey, I take a break and FaceTime my friends to check-in on how they’re doing during reading period. 

2:00 p.m.: Ten pages of my Junior Paper or a 10-page prospectus are due on Dean’s Date, so I get started on that next. If you haven’t picked up on it by now, my concentration is English, so I have a LOT of papers. I’m writing my Junior Paper on nameless female protagonists in literature. 

2:45 p.m.: One of my brothers, who’s a first-year at TCNJ (The College of New Jersey), joins me now after his classes. We write and study together for a little while, but we’re mostly just talking, laughing and having a good time. He’s become my new study buddy! 

3:30 p.m.: I hop on a Zoom call with my team, Princeton Cheer, to study and chat with them. Normally, during reading period, we book a room in a building on campus to study together, but Zoom works too. 

4:15 p.m.: Time to get ready for work! I picked up a job at J.Crew near my house during the holiday season to make some extra money. I typically work 5-9:30 p.m. on weekdays and longer hours on weekends. I grab a coffee at Gloria Jeans nearby before my shift.

9:45 p.m.: I get home from work, chat with my family and shower.

10:30 p.m.: Finally, Netflix time! Right now, I’m watching The Queen’s Gambit, but I’m also keeping up with the latest season of Grey’s Anatomy on Hulu. 

12:30 a.m.: Bedtime :) 

Reading period surely look different this year, but there are still plenty of ways to stay connected, get your work done and make time for self care. Still have some questions about reading period, papers, and finals at Princeton? Feel free to email me! 

After nearly nine months of doing all of my schoolwork in my bedroom or in my basement, I miss doing work in coffee shops, dining halls and most of all, libraries.  Princeton’s libraries are one of the most amazing parts of the University, so there’s no wonder I miss them.  

Firestone Library is probably the most well-known of the Princeton libraries.  It’s huge, with three below-ground and three above-ground floors.  It’s full of conference rooms, individual desks, couches and books, of course.  Princeton students come here to study all the time.  If I woke up early on a weekend and had a lot of studying to do, I would snag a fourth floor conference room for my friends and I to do our homework together.  If I had a problem set that needed my concentration, I would grab an empty desk on any floor.  And if I had an hour in between classes and needed a break, I would put my headphones on and take a quick nap on the second floor couches (hey, don’t judge). 

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Lots of people also love the Architecture Library for its central location, big windows and relative emptiness.  I spent several evenings working on essays or research at a desk in front of a window, people-watching when I could no longer stare at the screen.  When it started to get dark outside, I’d pop over to Murray-Dodge Cafe and grab a freshly-baked cookie before trekking back to my dorm room for the night.

There’s also a number of study spots on campus that are joked about as places to go when you just want to talk with your friends, but pretend you are studying.  The lower level of Frist Campus Center is one of these places; it seems that the whole student body passes through the building twice a day.  Another one is the Julian Street Library, or “J Street,” located above Wilcox Dining Hall.  Somehow, as soon as you sit down and open up your laptop, a friend you hadn’t talked to in weeks would be passing through and would stop to say hi. 

But my favorite place to study at Princeton would have to be East Pyne.  As a Slavic Languages and Literatures concentrator, my department and many of my courses are housed in this building, alongside our friends in Classics, Comparative Literature, German, Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, French and Italian, and Spanish and Portuguese.  In between classes, I often head to the East Pyne library, one of the most beautiful places on campus, to get some studying done.  It was one of the first places I saw when I visited the University for the first time, and I don’t think I’ll ever cease to be in awe when I pass by.  East Pyne reminds me of how lucky I am and how amazing the school I attend is.

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I can’t wait until the next time I get to set up my laptop and backpack by one of the stained-glass windows of East Pyne.  Till then, I’ll settle for the regular window in my bedroom.