A Rider News welcome letter

By Alfie Eville

As quickly as it came, so too it went. Summer is over and we are back on campus for another fall semester! Despite that sounding boring and tiresome, going back to college always allows for great experiences and long-lasting memories. For me, I think it will be impossible to forget the first year I had here. How great it was, meeting my friends, walking around campus and not having to wake up at 6:30 a.m. to catch the bus to school. 

I would like to dedicate this article as my personal invitation and welcome letter to all the students returning to this campus, be it their first or their last year. 

To any of the seniors that may be reading this, I wish for you the speediest of semesters and the best of luck possible to what is sure to be a great career ahead of you after your tenure at Rider. We thank you for your time and dedication at this school, and hope it all pays off! Again, best of luck. I, myself, look forward to being in your shoes sooner rather than later. 

To the juniors and my fellow sophomores, I think the best word of advice is to just keep up the work you have already put in. The home stretch is in sight for you, juniors. What a concept that must be, only being one year removed from your final chapter of college. I know for me, I am excited to reach the halfway point at the end of this year. I still feel as though I am a freshman in high school, but now that the high school class of 2025 is already past their freshman year of college, that is bizarre.

And finally, to the incoming freshmen. For me, personally, freshman year is not that hard to reminisce on, as it was technically only a couple of months ago. While it probably feels daunting, as I most definitely felt that way, that feeling washes away quicker than you can realize. Once you get beyond the sad parts of leaving your families, or the scary elements of lecture halls and communal bathrooms, college truly unravels into an experience like no other. There will obviously be obstacles, like eventually locking yourself out of your dorm or not understanding how Canvas works, but getting past them leads you down an exciting path. Whether it be meeting new people, learning the most fascinating of things from your wise and old professors or participating in new and old hobbies alike; be it writing for an award-winning newspaper at The Rider News, playing ping-pong and 8-ball at the Student Recreation Center or downing an unhealthy amount of ice cream cones at Daly Dining Hall. In college, tribulations lead to triumph. Your future here at Rider is bright, and we, as a community, are happy to invite you here among us and look forward to seeing you all across campus, thriving.

Alfie Eville is a sophomore history and secondary education major