Gwen Domine
Junior Editor
Only hours after flying across the country and moving all of my belongings into an unfamiliar space filled with unfamiliar people, I found myself standing on the lawn surrounded by eccentrically costumed upperclassmen shouting and singing. There were other similarly nervous freshmen nearby, sharing sentiments of excitement yet simultaneous anxiety for the days to come. The schedule we received appeared miles long: hours of activities broken by mealtimes. This overwhelming yet exciting transition time is a hallmark of PRE, Sewanee’s two-day program offered as an Explore segment of part of the First-Year Experience. Beginning the Thursday before classes start and finishing with the Contra Dance on Saturday night, PRE has been an optional Sewanee tradition for more than 30 years.
PRE is not the only Explore track; multiple other programs were offered for the first time this year, but PRE is the largest program. I was one of 214 freshmen who chose to participate in the nature-focused program run by the Sewanee Outing Program. Through fault of my own, I signed up for PRE not because of a deep desire to discover the Domain. Rather, I had heard that it was the most popular option, and assumed it was the best way to meet people. I will say this: The outings we went on were unique, including rock climbing and hiking to a natural pool, and provided an opportunity to see the outdoors in this place that was to become my home for the next four years. I was excited and prepared to camp for two nights, and was looking forward to engaging in a multitude of activities to forge new friendships.
What I was not prepared for was to find that our first night of “cowboy camping” was rained out. After watching skits in Guerry Garth with lightning hanging ominously over our heads, the rain eventually came to push us all into the auditorium. As groups were each assigned new locations to sleep, ours was the floor of Guerry Auditorium. After a complicated head-to-toe setup in order to fit multiple PRE groups, we dozed off — only to be awakened at 5:30 a.m.. Bright flashlights and a stern police officer informing us that we had to evacuate the room in order for the custodians to clean woke us up, after which we were promptly instructed to go back to our dorms for two more hours until breakfast. Walking back to my dorm in the dark, following the map on my phone since it was only my second day on campus, I was hesitant but still attempting to look on the bright side for the remainder of PRE.
Unfortunately, I was led further to believe that PRE was not the route for me. I was unaware of the level of scheduling that PRE entailed; with occasional breaks that left time no longer than an hour to rest, the sense of being overwhelmed was quickly exacerbated. I found myself grateful for the hard work that all those who planned PRE had put in, but I was left with the question of whether having more downtime would aid acclimation to this new environment.
Mackenzie Smith (C ‘30) felt similarly — traveling far to Sewanee and moving all of her belongings and then being immediately thrown into nearly nonstop activities created a sense of stress.
“I had maybe an hour and a half in my room per day, and I felt very rushed all the time and not prepared for anything,” she said. “Having downtime would let students call the people they miss, unpack, or just sit with their thoughts instead of having one activity after another.”
Beyond being simply rushed, the busy schedule created a lack of emotional processing time. When undergoing such a major transition, it is important to give individuals time to digest the changes that are occurring.
“Starting college is such a huge transition for many people, including me, and there are many emotions that come with it,” Smith said. “When I am constantly being rushed into new activities and things, you don’t have a chance to process what you are feeling.”
PRE does, though, create bonding and opportunities for friendship within groups and also between PRE students as a whole. Many of the activities merged multiple PRE groups together, allowing for broader connections. But while I was spending so much time with PRE students, I was seeing none of the students in other programs. Because of interconnectedness within PRE, there becomes a disconnect from the other tracks.
This year, Contra Night returned after a break in previous years. On Saturday before the dance, it is tradition for PRE groups to go to Goodwill and pick out a wacky outfit to fit their theme, such as hippies, movies, etc. However, Contra Night was not solely for PRE — every member of the freshman class was invited. But when nearly half of the students were dressed in bizarre outfits and taking photos in groups, myself included in a Y2K getup, some students who chose to take a different track than PRE found themselves on the outside of a seemingly exclusive group. The costume element was not communicated to many of the other programs, leaving some non-PRE students in a place of confusion.
Jemima Clark (C ‘30) experienced this firsthand — after realizing that a multitude of students were in unique ensembles whilst walking to Contra, she scrambled to find something to change into from her own dorm.
“We weren’t encouraged to be silly like the other groups, but I definitely wanted to participate in it, and I know my roommates did too,” Clark said. “We weren’t told about dressing up, and we didn’t learn about Goodwill so we just pulled things out of our closet and made it work.”
Beyond not matching the outfits of others on Contra Night, Clark noted that the divide between groups extended towards personal belonging, caused by the lack of communication and physical appearance.
“I remember feeling left out,” she said. “It’s just silly clothes at the end of the day, but it is a really big Sewanee thing. I think people should be letting each other know and PRE leaders should be encouraging their students to let each other know.”
Sewanee Outing Program director John Benson shared that it was not the intent of the SOP to cause this rift during Contra Night. “Perhaps that was an oversight that could be done better,” Benson said. “Apologies if that made anyone feel uncomfortable. People could do what they wanted, but it’s also just [about] show[ing] up.”
Benson expressed positive regards for the program during our interview, as well as survey data sent out that depicted a majority positive experience during PRE. However, the survey was compiled of 67 responses, less than one-third of the 214 students who did PRE this year.
My experience during PRE was a largely positive one: I got to explore places I had never been before and find community in a group with shared experiences. I want to recognize all of the work that it takes to plan PRE and the countless hours staff spend to put the program together, as well as the student volunteers who lead it.
That is not to say, though, that there isn’t room to improve: Finding myself in a position where I felt as though all my feelings were bottled up without the alone time to let them out created a hard comedown when it all came crashing down after PRE. While the activities and camping excursions are made known to students beforehand, the lack of time and connection with students outside of PRE is not. I personally believe that a significant improvement to PRE would be working time into the schedule to allow students to assimilate to a new place in a healthy manner involving rest, creating more communication between PRE and other programs in order to ensure that everyone feels included.