By Savannah Cooper | Staff Writer
For many, college is a four year journey that is a student’s first step into adulthood. Each year of college can bring in new challenges; freshmen often come in with great excitement while navigating everything, compared to juniors and seniors who may be established on campus and have a better idea of what they want to pursue.
Some say sophomores are in a unique position where they’re comfortable with the idea of college and managing themselves, but don’t have a more definite knowledge of what they want do after graduation.
The sophomore class president and vice president sent out an email to the entire class of 2020 announcing a new website that’s a one-stop shop for all things students need throughout the academic year.
Austin sophomore and class president James Schultz said he is excited that this opportunity will be a convenient resource for students.
“A lot of the things on the website may have been something they’ve already known about, but one thing that I thought was really cool about the website was the fact that it’s any resource you can think of all in one place,” Schultz said.
Snyder sophomore and class vice president Kaiden Johnson said that even though students might be aware of the information on the website, the goal is to have everything in one collective place.
“The goal is to have a link to everything we need for our sophomore year,” Johnson said. “So while I may know about the tutoring center or academic advising or stuff to do in Waco just having that resource literally all in one place all able to be accessed through that website is so convenient and I think that’s a really awesome opportunity.”
The origin of the website began when the Dean for Student Learning and Engagement Dr. Jeff Doyle approached Schultz and Johnson. As the sophomore class advisor, he said he wanted to create a website but wanted their input as sophomore students.
Together, they collaborated to make the resource uniquely for the class of 2020. The reason this website is solely for sophomores is because of what Johnson sees the unique position they’re in.
“The reason it’s just for us and our age is because freshmen are just getting here and there still trying to totally figure it out, or at least I was, while juniors and seniors usually have it figured out, but sophomores are at the stage where they think they know what they’re doing, but they need a little assisting and that’s what this website is for,” Johnson said. “It points towards career counseling and career development and other stuff like that I think is a really good tool for sophomores.”
Schultz said he wants this website to be a particularly great opportunity for students who aren’t so well connected in and out of the Baylor community.
“For people who aren’t as well connected necessarily or maybe don’t know much about the surrounding area of Waco, this gives them a chance to learn more about Waco and have some opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise know about,” Schultz said. “I know there are some people who don’t necessarily have connections coming into Baylor and for that reason they might not know about things.”
