Freshman Year

Sarah Mai's Freshman Year is the second graphic novel set in college. Sarah is leaving suburban Wisconsin to attend a school in Minnesota. The summer before her first year she's feeling a lot of stress over choosing the right major and classes.
Arriving on campus Sarah realizes that college life is not what she expected. Classes are quite different from high school. Her peers seem so much more sure of their paths. They seem to be leaving her in the dust grade wise and socially. She's often lonely on campus while feeling her ties to her high school friends fraying, especially when her boyfriend decides that their long distance thing isn't working.
Mai based Freshman Year on her own first year experiences. She referenced primary sources such as her journals, photographs, posts, and sketchbooks.
"I had gone through some of my highest highs and some of my lowest lows, and came out of the experience feeling uncertain and embarrassed. I felt I had failed to leave my emotional baggage at home, to transform from the secretly anxious, depressive person I was in high school. Despite my attempts at growth, I had not lived up to my own expectations and the expectations I assumed other people had for me."
Freshman Year mirrors experiences of many first year students. Rates of depression and anxiety are rising quickly among undergrads. Some students are under very real family pressure to achieve. Comparing one's experience and performance to the carefully curated posts of others can be a real confidence underminer. The book can be a big help for students approaching and living through that transitional first year. It would be a good orientation read and discuss for incoming college students.
On a purrrsonal note, Like Sarah, I had journaled in college. So I had sources more reliable than my memories. I was an academic and extracurricular achiever and very popular. People would never guess I had insecurities. But I had a secret shame. I was, through no fault of my own, ten years older than my classmates. I was afraid people would reject me if they learned about those "lost" years. I looked so much younger I could pull it off. But I always had a fear of being outed.
A great big shout out goes out to the students getting ready for their first year in higher education, especially those headed for my beloved University of Maine.
Jules Hathaway