Balancing the new curriculum with all aspects of campus life is a challenge many freshmen have already encountered in their short time at Mercyhurst. The thrill of being on their own mixes with the sudden weight of responsibility for both their possessions and their school work.

“It’s college,” freshman Miranda Flores said, an archaeology major from South Lake Tahoe, Calif. “It’s to be expected to have a larger work load.” She actually enjoys it, because the subject matter is covered much more thoroughly than in high school.

Flores is not the only freshman to notice and appreciate the difference. An English major from Redwood City, Calif., Katie Felong said she enjoys how her classes have expanded on and added to subjects that she already knew something about.

“It’s more conversational,” Felong said of one of her classes. “The discussions [aren’t] like in high school.”

While most freshmen are adjusting well to campus life and were eager enough to be away from their parents, they are finding they still miss some of the comforts of home.

“I miss my parents, more than I would have thought,” Amanda Schmeltzer, an interior design major from McMurry, Pa., said. Even though she said she is enjoying her classes, she said it is hard to be away from home.

Also high on the list of missed comforts are pets. Students passing a pet store in the mall will linger there, wishing they could take one or all of them back to their dorms.

Others have found the new independence of college life restricting.

“[I miss] my car,” Sarah Judge, a social work major from Scranton, Pa., said. “I could go places whenever I wanted and didn’t have to wait for the bus or walk.”

“I guess I’m still adjusting,” Felong said. “Life here is just different, you know.”