When I initially began to reflect on my first semester here at Princeton, I could only see it as a zero-sum game, wherein Princeton bested me time and time again, despite my best efforts to maintain good grades, make friends and get enough sleep. But the inherent nature of reflection is not zero-sum, in fact, it is only through reflection that I’ve arrived at the person I am today, grasping at and combining all of the lessons I’ve learned throughout the years. Now that finals season has begun to wind down and the temperature has dropped suspiciously low, I am here to share with you three lessons I’ve learned from my first semester at Princeton!

Resilience Over Perfection

This has been a big one for me. As what you would call a “high achiever” (read: perfectionist) in high school, I expected that if I just sat down and studied, I’d get an ‘A’ in all or most of my classes. I quickly realized that that is not how academics works here at Princeton! Here, someone can study for hours and hours and still feel unsure walking into an exam. I do not say this to scare you, oh young one, but to prepare you. After taking my first semester of classes—an intro neuroscience class, an intro computer science class, a painting class and my first-year writing seminar—I have learned to value my own resilience over any unachievable notion of perfection. It is only from trying different study techniques and taking advantage of different class resources such as office hours that I’ve begun to figure out what I need to thrive academically. If I don’t get the grade I want, that just means I need to try something new next time!

The Spontaneous Yes is Rarely a Bad Choice

I know I’m going out on a limb here, telling you that your fingers do not have to be perpetually glued to a pencil or computer, but alas it is true! There are so many INCREDIBLE experiences I’ve had here at Princeton, all because I was willing to say “yes”! From learning how to ice skate at UPenn’s ice rink to performing in a Halloween parade, there are tons of opportunities (most of them free) for students to try new things, meet new people and have fun. 

Rest is Powerful

Read that one more time. Though it is easy to fall into a habit of working all the time and always being “busy,” I am slowly leaning into the power of saying no and taking some time for myself. Currently, my favorite self-care activities are napping, journaling and crocheting. I know I just told you to say “yes!” to more things, so this next lesson seems counterintuitive, but it’s actually not. My intentional “no’s” gave me the space to recharge and engage in self-care, so that when I did say “yes!” I was able to fully engage with whatever new experience I was having.  Saying yes to everything is not sustainable, and saying no to everything is a waste of all the cool opportunities Princeton has to offer; developing a good balance of yes’s and no’s is what has allowed me to take advantage of cool opportunities while staying on top of academics and relationship building. It is the key to avoiding burnout.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my reflections on my first semester at Princeton. What has this past semester been like for you?

I studied remotely for my first year, so my sophomore fall semester was my first time living on campus. One of the best parts of being in person is being able to partake in Princeton's numerous traditions that aim to build community in the Orange Bubble, so here are seven of my favorites that I've had the chance to experience:

1. Pre-Rade

Image

The Pre-rade is a parade in which an incoming class is officially welcomed to Princeton by running through Fitzrandolph gates. Alumni, upperclassmen and the student band cheer for you as you sprint through the black iron gates in front of Nassau Hall. The Class of 2024 didn't have a Pre-rade last year due to the pandemic, so ours was held this year just before the Class of 2025 Pre-rade. Students never walk through Fitzrandolph gates again until commencement, because legend has it you won't graduate in four years if you do! I don't know if I believe this, but I'm not going to be the one to find out.

2. Chalkboards

Image

I have yet to see a single dry-erase whiteboard on the Princeton campus. Instead, every classroom or office I've seen has a traditional black chalkboard. I'm not entirely sure what the logic is behind this. You're forced to write more slowly on a chalkboard, I've found, so maybe this forces professors to slow down when teaching and helps students pinpoint mistakes in their reasoning when working through equations. Whatever the purpose, writing on a chalkboard feels old-fashioned and classic in a way that reminds me of Einstein working at Princeton (even when I'm only writing out a homework problem instead of refining the theories of quantum physics).

3. Forbes Garden and Sunday Brunch

Image

My residential college, Forbes, is home to both the Princeton Garden Project, where student garden managers organize workdays where students can help weed and harvest, and to their famous weekly Sunday brunch, complete with a chocolate fountain. I enjoyed checking out the garden this semester and seeing the vegetables and fruits they were growing, and the Sunday brunch never failed to impress. 

4. Bonfire

Image

When the Princeton football team defeats both Harvard and Yale in the same season, the tradition is to host a celebratory bonfire on Cannon Green. Each class year had a specified time throughout the day when they could place crates on the structure to be burned, and in the evening students cheered as the Yale and Harvard-decorated structure went up in flames.

5. Outdoor Action

Image

Outdoor Action is best-known for organizing the pre-orientation camping trip for first years, but they also offer hikes and other sporting activities to all students throughout the year. On "OA Day" Saturday this semester, I decided to join a hike at the Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve (about a mile off campus). The scenery was lovely and I was able to meet some new people.

6. Newspapers

The Daily Princetonian is always available online, but I really enjoy reading a copy of the physical newspaper. Having a print copy allows me to see stories that wouldn't otherwise catch my eye online, and it's nice to get a break from the screen. Each Friday afternoon copies of the Daily Princetonian and the Nassau Weekly, the literary magazine, are distributed to the residential colleges. I always look forward to picking up my copies and catching up with news and discussion of the Orange Bubble at the end of the week.

7. Applause after the final lecture

At the conclusion of the final lecture on the last day of classes, the students erupt into a hearty round of applause in gratitude for all the knowledge the professor has imparted throughout the semester. This occurred in a way on Zoom last year in the form of "thank you!" messages and "clapping hands" emojis flooding the chat, but it was so much more meaningful in person.

These were the Princeton traditions I got to experience this fall, and I'm looking forward to what sophomore spring will bring!

Having been recently diagnosed with a disability, ulcerative colitis, one of the main fears I had living on campus was the accommodation system. I had only gone through the process during virtual learning, so witnessing how my illness would affect me on campus was a bit scary. I feared that I would not be getting the accommodations I needed. Considering the cyclical nature of my illness, I feared that the Office of Disability Services would not see my accommodations as necessary. Although I got most of my accommodations, my need for a private bathroom was not met, yet I’ve managed without it for now. 

The fact that I didn’t have certain accommodations that I felt were necessary made me worried about how accessible the campus would be. But, I find that generally, the staff and members of the University are quite understanding of disabilities. For one, my professors have been incredibly helpful in honoring my accommodations. Additionally, the Office of Disability Services is generally very responsive and helpful to meet the varying needs of students with accommodations. Despite the fact that I moved hundreds of miles away from home, with access to my needs more limited, I still flourish. Really, accommodations is about finding out how to work within a system, even if the resources you need are all not there. 

Image

One of the biggest pieces of advice I would give to incoming first-year students is to make sure your accommodations prepare for the worst case scenario, rather than your present condition. College is a large transition. You can not predict its effect on your disability. Additionally, as long as you have the proper documentation and good reasoning, you should be able to get those accommodations. Another piece of advice I would give is to not be afraid to advocate for yourself. There are many staff who help you advocate for what you need to succeed at Princeton, like our Residential College Staff. Reaching out to them can be instrumental in ensuring you get the resources you need, and knowing that persistence is key. 

Princeton has helped me advocate for myself more, intertwining with my interest in politics. Princeton gives a plethora of resources for those with varying disabilities — you just need to take advantage of those resources.

Members of Princeton’s Class of 2022 have had an up-and-down, unconventional time during these past four years. But I count myself very lucky to have experienced not just one, but two, of Princeton’s most unpredictable and unforgettable traditions: the bonfire, which happens only if our football team defeats both Harvard and Yale in one season.

In the late fall of 2018, and again just this month, all of campus gathered in front of Morrison Hall for a bonfire that reached high into the night sky. 

Image

This year, I found myself staring at the high, bare branches of a particular tree, lit brightly against the dark sky by the orange glow of the bonfire. I remembered looking at the same tree three years ago as a first-year. Now, in the same place and warmed by that same heat, I didn’t even have to close my eyes to imagine that it was 2018, that the majority of my time at Princeton still stretched ahead of me. 

The crowd, rowdy and calling for the flames before the fire had begun, seemed to quiet as the bonfire crackled, its sparks catching high into the wind. On one side of the green, the Greek pillars of Whig and Clio were lit orange - all other light came from the growing fire, illuminating our faces and protecting us from the November chill. 

Sustained on wood pallets assembled and painted by each class the same afternoon, the flames stretched as tall as the trees, as if they were trying to ring the bell atop Nassau Hall. The crowd cheered as wooden pallets cracked and fell as they were consumed. Within our orange bubble, everything touched by night was lit bright as day.

The fire remained strong for more than an hour before it began to diminish. I felt that I had been there only a minute since it first began.  

Image

Princeton was the last stop on my college tour. This was not intentional by any means, it just so happened that I circled by Princeton last before heading to the airport. In retrospect, had I visited Princeton first, I do not doubt that the rest of the college tour would have been for naught because everything else faded in my memory as soon as I stepped foot in the Orange Bubble. 

I visited in the summer when Princeton is quieter, serene and as gorgeous as ever. There is something about the empty walkways and buildings that both intimidate and invite you in, and as a high school sophomore, I could see myself at Princeton, walking (or running, as I often do now) to class, weaving my way through the residential colleges in search of new study places (of which there are plenty), or sitting at a bench outside stealing a moment to myself in the midst of organized chaos. 

Now, speaking to you as a student who was lucky enough to be admitted, the beauty of Princeton extends beyond its exterior. To begin, there is also never a ‘standard,’ or ‘average’ day here. I might wake up expecting to attend my 3-hour seminar in a classroom, but instead spend the class time sitting outside with my classmates and professor discussing politics. I’ll think I’m spending the night eating dinner with my friends but instead find myself wading in the SPIA fountain on a whim and meeting so many new people. The opportunities and paths are endless here on a day-to-day basis, and they become even more varied the more time you spend here. 

Image

I also love Princeton for the people and how genuine they are. Even before I had committed to the University, Professor Ksenia Chizhova from the East Asian Studies department reached out to me to arrange a Skype call to talk about my interests and how I could pursue them at Princeton. She assured me of the attention I would receive from the professors and people here, and after I arrived, I saw how true this was. The professors are so attentive, friendly and care about their students. My professor for a course called “China’s Frontiers”  sent me a feedback email after the first class, complimenting me on points I brought up during the discussion. 

I also learn a lot from my classmates, who are inspirational in their drive and work ethic, their commitment to social causes and extracurriculars outside of class, and their willingness to lend a helping hand. Everyone here has an interesting story to tell, and my friends range from environmental engineers to future politicians. As someone who is greatly influenced by the environment I am in, I believe there is no other place where you will be able to become the best version of yourself than Princeton. So take the chance, and join our Princeton community! There is a place for you here.

I’m a bit obsessed with the holiday season...catch me on #holidaytok for sure. My family puts up our Christmas tree immediately after Halloween (November 1, to be specific). During that first week, all of the fall decor comes down and the holiday decor goes up: snowflake gels pressed onto the windows, gold lights strung across the trees, toy reindeer and “let it snow” signs stacked on the kitchen island. After we connect our holiday music to the house sound system, we’ve basically transformed into the North Pole in the middle of N.J. 

Given how whole-heartedly we celebrate the holidays at home, when I was a first-year at Princeton, I remember missing the rush to decorate and sing Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me.” It felt strange to not set up a tree after Halloween, and I started longing for spaces where I could get into the holiday spirit. Over the past few years, I’ve found many ways to satisfy my Christmas music cravings and decor instincts. If you’re also on #holidaytok, check out some of the ways that I like to celebrate at Princeton throughout November and December!

Mini Tree 

It’s a pink Christmas! This year, I bought a 4-foot pink tree to decorate in my dorm room. It was super easy to set up and a quick find on Amazon. I used a bunch of my ornaments from home so that I could feel like I was in my own house around the holidays. I plan to put all of my gifts for friends and family before break under the tree so it’ll be extra festive. 

Image

PSEC’s WinterFest

As a Program Chair of the Princeton Student Events Committee (PSEC), I’m involved in planning school-wide events that function as study breaks and fun outings with friends. One of our annual events is WinterFest, where you can make holiday stuffed animals and winter crafts, take photos with winter backdrops, and eat yummy food like pies, latkes, cheesecake bites and so much more. It’s literally a huge food buffet in the middle of Frist Campus Center.

Image

Image

Starbucks Holiday Drinks

While there are a ton of places to get coffee on campus, I can’t resist the Starbucks holiday drinks. And since we’re lucky to have a Starbucks right on Nassau Street (literally right across the street from campus), I’ll often pop in for something festive. 

Image

Palmer Square Lights & Tree

Every year, Palmer Square (a shopping & dining area walking distance from campus) decorates one of their biggest trees with beautiful rainbow lights. It’s a tradition to take photos in front of the tree! The whole surrounding area is also decorated with tons of gold lights that always remind me of the ones my family has at home. 

Image

Image

Cannon Club Tree Decorating 

My eating club Cannon also has its own holiday events and food. I especially love decorating the tree-- if you couldn’t tell by now, I’m really into Christmas trees. We drink hot chocolate, eat cookies and blast holiday music together. 

Cheer Holiday Practice 

Princeton Cheer always has its own holiday practice, where we dress up in holiday outfits and play fun games. Typically our coach will bring hot chocolate and desserts, and we’ll split up into teams to compete in a bunch of challenges. 

Secret Santas 

Secret Santas are one of my favorite parts about being on campus during December. My family never did Secret Santas growing up, so this is a bit of a new tradition I’ve started at Princeton. Each year I participate/organize multiple Secret Santas with clubs and teams that I’m a part of. It’s so fun to meet up with friends and exchange presents. 

Not only does Princeton look absolutely magical in the snow, but it has a lot to offer when it comes to all things winter and holidays. Of course, I look forward to winter break at home with my family, but I now get equally excited for the holiday season at school! 

Dear Great Questbridge Match Class of 2026,

Yes, it is official! You (yes, I mean YOU!) are a valued part of Princeton’s newest class, the Great Class of 2026. 

Maybe I’m moving too fast… let’s back up. In September, you worked tirelessly to submit the Questbridge National College Match application. Through October and the beginning of November, you waited with apprehension to see if you’d become a finalist. Then, once you became a finalist, you hurried to submit your supplements. The journey you’ve been through up until this moment has been filled to the brim with its fair shares of joys and challenges. I am intimately familiar with both (read: have you ever cried and screamed for joy simultaneously?). 

Despite the stress, not just from the college admissions process, but also from just being a lower-income or first-generation student navigating the U.S. education system, you have made it here to Princeton. I know you might not quite feel that you are “here” yet, and you may wake up many nights wondering if your match announcement was a dream or a stroke of luck. However, I am here to tell you that it was neither of those things. Even though you have yet to step foot in your dorm room or Frist campus center, or your freshman writing seminar, I assure you that you belong here. With every cell in your body, you belong here.

I remember that when I got my match email, I was sitting in my virtual French class. Although my eye fatigue was setting in at that point, my body jolted with adrenaline as soon as I saw the email at the top of my inbox. That moment felt like it would make or break my future. In many ways it did. I walked into my parents’ room, shaking as we opened the email together. In the rare moments that followed, my family’s joy pulsed forth in a sea of hugs and congratulations… finally, I had made it!

As I write this letter to you now, sitting in one of Princeton’s six dining halls, I’ve grown so much. In retrospect, my last few months of high school and my first few months of college have flown by in a blur. I say this knowing that when I was actually living those days, powering through the endless virtual classes, it felt like college life could not come soon enough. They seemed to drag on. But, I urge you to make the most of your final high school months. In those months, you will soak up the company of your friends, go to your classes for the last time and say many hard goodbyes. Don’t let those precious moments slip away as you instead grasp towards a blooming concept of college.

You will be changed here at Princeton. I know I have. In the past months, I’ve become a person who takes showers at night (enough said). I’ve joined the Princeton University Band and discovered a love for playing the cymbals. I’ve traveled to New York for the first time, and went ice skating for the first time, too. 

Image

Once high school eventually comes to an end, you will face the difficult but rewarding task of transitioning to college life. Please open your hearts to the experiences here at Princeton.

 I’ve changed so much, and yet I am continuously grounded by my Questie community. Though high school-me didn’t start making my match poster until May of 2021, the Questbridge community here on campus has consistently been here to support me and cheer me on, especially through the Scholars Institute Fellows Program (SIFP). Believe me when I say that there are hundreds of people here who can’t wait to meet you! 

With all my love

       Aminah 

At Princeton, life is busy. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has spoken to one of the five thousand undergraduates who call this chilly part of New Jersey home — this is a campus where students are known to hang out at a dining hall much past midnight, sipping coffee and finishing assignments, where many need an electric scooter, bike or skateboard to get from one lecture to another in time, where students schedule things like “Coffee with Grady” in their Google Calendar to ensure that they can fit in their social obligations alongside their academic and extracurricular ones.

There is something exciting about the bustle, to be sure, but this campus can be a tiring place. On the first day of November, I took the chance to slow down with the Religious Life Council, a project of the Office of Religious Life (ORL), for a talk on “Scholarship as a Contemplative Practice.” Contemplation — a key part of existence that I find easy to forget in college, when everything can feel so fast-paced and objective-focused.

The Office of Religious Life is located at Murray-Dodge Hall, one of my favorite buildings on campus — not least of which because of its open-daily cafe which offers free tea and cookies, its beautiful redbrown archways and the Joni Mitchell quote inscribed on a table in the quiet inner courtyard. The talk on contemplation was here, and as ever, when I entered Murray-Dodge, I felt a little calmer.

The ORL is always full with tea, conversation and friends old and new, and this night was no different. After a quick dinner and chat, we — students, faculty, staff and other members of the Princeton community — filed into a room where we unstacked and lined up chairs in a semi-circle facing the three professors who were there to talk. Although I no longer would describe myself as religious (which isn’t as uncommon as one might think at the ORL), this tradition reminded me fondly of the past: unstacking and restacking folding chairs at the United Methodist church I attended growing up.

Professors Ruha Benjamin, Yair Mintzker and Michael Hecht talked for a half hour about their experiences melding the contemplative and the scholastic; about focusing on research as a thing in itself to be prized, rather than to advance yourself and your career; about placing yourself in the narrative that your work produces; about the comfortable analogues between religion and science. Professor Benjamin described her experience in graduate school, when she had to work hard to ensure that what she was doing was actually connected to the real world and its real people. (Of course, they spoke about many other things as well, but I don’t feel well equipped enough to reconstruct their comments here faithfully.)

The talk was a welcome distraction from the work I left safely in my dorm room. For an hour and change, I thought deeply about something that was completely divorced from my various classes in semantic theory, philosophy of race and the italian subjunctive; I thought deeply about myself and my relation to this place called Princeton and all the demands that attending college anywhere places on a person. There is always time to take a break from strenuous, narrowly-focused work — there is always time to let the mind wander and think about other things — there is always time to close the textbooks. I carve out time to do this wherever I can; attending talks, screenings or readings that have nothing to do with a class I’m taking or something I want to major in. There is always time to be enriched by other things.

“Please evacuate the stadium,” exclaimed the announcer. “We ask that everybody leaves the stadium now due to lightning.” 

Ready to welcome the Princeton football team onto the field, we watched as the sea of orange and black in the stands got thinner and thinner. The sky grew darker and that’s when we heard the first loud clash of thunder. We stopped shaking our pom poms and followed our coach into the tunnel within the stadium, just beating the downpour of rain by a second or two. And then we waited. Everyone waited: the Princeton and Yale football teams, their families, the Princeton band, students, staff, faculty and Princeton Cheer.

Image

I can’t say this is how I imagined cheering at my last Princeton football game to go: playing hand-clapping games of concentration and slide in the tunnel and huddling for warmth as the rain continued to fall. At one point, all I wanted was to head back to my dorm, grab a hot chocolate and watch Schitt’s Creek in bed. But an hour or so went by and the sun peeked out. The teams started warming up again and we joined them on the field. Nobody’s going to watch the game after waiting all this time, I thought as I stared out onto the empty stands. But over the next 15 minutes, the sea of orange and black gradually returned. At first just a few clusters, then larger groups, then an entire crowd with creative signs, Tiger ears and waving hands. 

Image

It was still cold and even a bit rainy, but somehow that didn’t matter anymore as I looked up at the crowd. During the second quarter, Princeton Cheer performed a dance on the field and at the end, the seniors got recognized by the announcer. When my name was called, I waved to the crowd, standing side by side with my teammates, and felt incredibly thankful to call this place my home. As Princeton led Yale into the last quarter of the game, the crowd started chanting “Bonfire! Bonfire! Bonfire!” It’s a tradition that if we beat Harvard and Yale in football, we get a bonfire on campus. We already won against Harvard at the homecoming game, so all we had to do was finish out this quarter strong to secure our bonfire, something we haven’t had since my first year at Princeton. 

Image

When the clock ran out, the score was 35-20 Princeton. The crowd stormed the field to congratulate the team, jumping over the railings of the stands in excitement. I hugged my teammates and met up with my family and boyfriend who all came to watch the game. Yes, it was not the game I imagined, but it was exactly what was meant to be. I can’t wait for the bonfire!

Image

Stepping foot on Princeton’s campus for the first time as a first-year can be an intimidating process as you’re met with new lingo (What is a prox? Are P-sets different from precepts?), beautiful looming gothic architecture, and a myriad of brilliant people from all walks of life. 

For me and other international students, it was paired with the added challenge of attending university away from our home countries, and beginning our journey largely alone. 

Due to COVID-19, international students in the class of 2024 did not get the traditional International Orientation experience, a 3-day program where they are given the chance to acclimate to Princeton’s campus and the United States before the rest of the first years arrive. 

As a result, I was afraid that I was insufficiently prepared for what Princeton life entailed. I remember sitting in my dorm room on the first night, jetlagged from a 14-hour flight and feeling homesick already, wondering if and when this place would feel like home. 

It took only a few days for me to realize my worries were for naught, as not only was everyone incredibly friendly and welcoming, but I luckily had a strong international community at my disposal to help ease the transition. 

The hub of Princeton’s international community is the Davis International Center, where students can find resources ranging from a ‘Guide to Living in Princeton’ to information to help with Immigration. The Davis IC held weekly events all through the year such as Bingo Night, Cake Baking, and Immigration Sessions for work authorization. In addition to more administrative tasks, the Davis IC also has undergraduate student leaders who are there to help with programming for the international community at large. 

Image

The virtual International Orientation hosted by the Davis IC leaders early on in my first year led me to meet some of my first (and closest) friends at Princeton, and the weekly study breaks I had with my International Orientation group throughout the semester allowed me to connect with people from all across the globe. The community was close-knit and strong, in addition to being some of the most enthusiastic people I have had the pleasure of meeting. 

The international community helped me realize the emotions I felt as an international student were not isolating, and I welcomed the consistent presence of Princeton’s international community during an uncertain academic year. 

Towards the end of my first year, I applied to be an IC leader myself, as I wanted to contribute to taking the pressure off of future international students at Princeton by becoming their sounding board and support system. 

This year, the Davis IC continues to support its international students by hosting events such as International Education Week, with activities ranging from an opening gala with performances from student dance groups to international trivia night -- and they were all in person!

Image

Though the prospect of attending college in a country thousands of miles away is daunting, I can assure you that the Davis IC is more than equipped with the proper tools to help you. I am grateful for the abundance of resources at my disposal as an international student, and my fellow IC leaders who enhanced my sense of belonging here.