As the first week of classes comes to an end at Eastern Connecticut State University, students expressed a variety of emotions. The campus is filled with fresh faces ranging from professors to freshmen. The Warriors are back to school and anticipating the 2015-16 academic year.

While the academic year has officially started that does not mean all students are ready for class. Some students take time to adjust from the 4 month summer vacation to a semester of hard work and exams.

Senior students are seeing their years of listening to professors talk for hours come to an end. These students need to find motivation to finish out their college careers strong. “This year is everything I expected it to be regarding workload and class structure,” said senior economics major Courtney Denunzo. “It’s nice to see fresh faces with all the new professors and adjust to their teaching styles. This helps motivate me to prove myself to the new teachers.”

Seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen all take on the same role at Eastern. They do their best and try hard to reach the goal of graduation. Freshmen have the biggest adjustments as they live away from their parents for the first time and enter a new school.

“Classes are going okay so far, haven’t been thrown too much work yet,” said freshman Niki Trinkley. “My Spanish class is filled with all upperclassmen so it makes me nervous. I’m still in the process of settling in which isn’t easy to begin with, so hopefully once I get comfortable in my room and familiar with classes and professors I will feel more settled.”

The year is filled with many exciting activities and events to help bring the Eastern community together. The Campus Activity Board and University Residential Outreach Council do an exceptional job coming up with fun activities right on campus to get students involved. “One thing I enjoy are all the events here on campus,” said transfer student Alex Stefanou. “The movie theatre offers a movie every Tuesday night and there are all types of events on the calendar. I’m excited to explore campus and meet people.”

Even when you are comfortable and familiar with campus, Eastern offers many new experiences that help students adjust to campus life. Amanda Demaio, a junior English and education major, is taking an independent study. “I enjoy my independent study so far because I am able to get the work done without the stress and anxiety of having to go to a classroom and perform all the little assignments. It’s straight to the point and the one-on-one with the professor makes it a lot easier to learn about the subject.”
Eastern is a place for new beginnings and endless opportunities. It seems all students are adjusting pretty well to the 2015-16 academic year. Good Luck Warriors!