To the Class of 2029: Welcome to UChicago! It’s a feat just to have made it to your first days of university, and we warmly congratulate you.

It may feel like your first week, and perhaps even your first year, is the most important time in your life — the beginning of college and your future life. But really, it’s all a continuous process. Yes, that means you need to keep putting in effort. It also means it’s never too late to start something new.

We know college can feel overwhelming and scary. Here’s some things we think are worth doing, even if you’re scared while doing them. 

Love things — your classes, your new friends, and the person you are working to become. 

Separate yourself from the big groups. You might just meet a real friend in the large, aimlessly walking groups of freshmen you’ll be part of, and, if you do, don’t be afraid to branch off! If you don’t find your people immediately, it’ll be okay. The beauty of college is that you can make new friends at any moment, if you stay open to it.

Let yourself change and grow. Change is always scary and hard, but growth is not possible without change.

Invest time in learning. Learning is exciting at UChicago, and doing your readings, p-sets, and essays can serve as a reprieve from the whirlwind of managing your “adult” life outside of class. 

And — trust us — get off campus once in a while. Here are a couple of trips we recommend: the Indiana dunes, the 61st Street farmer’s market, Oak Woods Cemetery, Steelworker’s Park, and, of course, Chicago classics like the Art Institute and the Lakefront Trail.

As you’re looking for community on this campus, one place you might find it is with us — the Maroon! We are a 133-year-old student-run publication financially and editorially independent from the University. We cover everything from University finances and student protests, to the Chicago arts scene and the latest scientific breakthroughs from UChicago’s brightest minds. If you’re reading this, you’ve likely picked up our biweekly print edition, which we love (cool kids read in print).

To the second-years, you’re a little more seasoned now. Be confident and be excited to know your way around and to know yourself a little better this year! To the third-years, you’re officially upperclassmen, moving onto more specialized courses and maybe even moving off campus. Be open to the growth this year will bring. To our fellow fourth-years, we’re so lucky to be cherishing this last year with you. 

We’re also looking forward to an exciting year at the Maroon, which will feature more visual storytelling, more training for our staff, and seed grants to support longform and investigative reporting projects thanks to the Parrhesia Public Thought and Discourse Program. And, as always, we’ll strive to expand our coverage areas, be in constant conversation with community members and fellow students, and break important stories.

You can be a part of all of it by joining the Maroon! We’ll be hosting this quarter’s recruiting events at 5 p.m. on September 30 and October 3 in our office in the basement of Ida Noyes. You can meet us there or at the center of the Quad, where a staff member will walk with you over to the newsroom.

Tiffany Li, Editor-in-Chief

Elena Eisenstadt, Deputy Editor-in-Chief

Evgenia Anastasakos, Managing Editor