Lizzy Hoffmann and Sammy Lewandowski sit together in the sun. Lewandowski believes that the RA teams at Bethel do a unique job at hosting dorm events compared to other colleges. “I definitely feel like there was just more of a personable aspect. We get to know our residents really well so we can cater our events to what they actually want to get out of it,” Lewandowski said.

A freshman phenomenon

First-year Bethel students seem to have a different experience from past freshmen despite Bethel’s community-bonding events and opportunities.

Autumn Wiens

March 7, 2025

Lizzy Hoffmann walked into the Getsch lobby after a month of being home for J-term. Even though the dorm building stayed the same during the month she was gone, something seemed off. The campus was empty. The 2.5 that once was filled with the sound of laughter and students chatting was now quiet, no one was at the ping pong table and the TV in the lobby was dark. Hoffmann was shocked by the emptiness as she asked her roommate Alaina Bonacquista how her J-term was on campus.

Freshman Lizzy Hoffmann and her roommate Alaina Bonacquista smile together for a picture. Hoffmann said that one of the ways that she connected with friends was through both Bethel-hosted and non-Bethel affiliated events. “I met a few people in Shack, which has always been fun. My first week here at Bethel, I went to a random music event with some people that I’d known at Bethel,” Hoffman said. “So then I met a lot of faces that I could see around Bethel.” (David Adentunji)

“What happened? What did you guys do? What was fun about it?” Hoffmann said.

She expected to hear about broom ball games and sledding with DC trays. Instead, she discovered students were busy with long classes and hours of homework, leaving little time to spare.

Transfer rates reportedly grew across the United States, increasing by 5.3% in the fall of 2023 according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. This year, 17 students transferred into freshmen dorms at Bethel after the fall semester.

Senior Getsch resident assistant Sammy Lewandowski noticed that freshmen will oftentimes participate more in Welcome Week events and other community-building activities at the beginning of the year than they do later in the semester.

“I personally don’t feel like it’s because they don’t want to [participate],” Lewandowski said. “We have an understanding that everybody has busy lives, and so you’re not going to be able to go to everything.”

For Hoffmann, one of the hardest things about her transition to college was connecting with a new group of people.

“A lot of people probably would say this as freshmen…you go from knowing kids from elementary to senior year to knowing nobody,” Hoffmann said. “I think that’s hard that you don’t have that prior connection to people.”

Senior RA Sammy Lewandowski hugs the girls on her floor. Lewandowski hosted a floor event where she and the girls did a photoshoot together with her friend and photographer David Adentunji. “Our main priority is the freshmen and this transition that they have. They’re leaving high school and they’re starting this new chapter in their lives. And so our job is like, how can we make this transition, like, more easy and more enjoyable,” Lewandowski said. (David Adentunji)

Over J-term, Hoffmann left campus in order to work at her local law firm, and she spent her free time with her family, going to high school basketball games. Although she felt as though she missed out on on-campus events such as Late Night at the DC or Getsch’s Assassin, she thought it was the right decision as students said that J-term was busy and uneventful.

“It was like, what outweighs what, and I wanted to go home and work and make money versus be here,” Hoffmann said. “It was also helpful to hear that it wasn’t like everything it was cracked up to be.”

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