From a hurricane to a new chancellor, this year has been one for the history books of App State. These abnormal occurrences impacted the freshman class, whose perspective on college life shifted over the 2024-25 school year. 

Freshman year is a time for change, growth and discovery. Many freshmen experience their immersion into adulthood during this time as they move away from home and explore campus unguarded. 

Anika Pallaigar, a freshman psychology major, came into App State with feelings of both homesickness and wonder.

“Wow, college is like what it shows in ‘Pitch Perfect,’” she said, referring to the first time she stepped onto Sanford Mall. 

Pallaigar chose App State because of its “low-key environment” and psychology program but discovered a community she could fit into.

She became interested in psychology before making her college decision, but when she chose App State, she realized her concentration was going to be health science. She said her experience with campus resources like the Counseling and Psychological Services Center helped her figure out her future career. 

The resources provided to Pallaigar allowed her to experience therapy for the first time, pushing her to want to become a therapist or psychiatrist. Alongside the counseling center, different clubs and various events on App State’s campus helped Pallaigar to fit in and find meaningful connections.

“Just knowing one person is enough to know a whole bunch of people,” Pallaigar said.

The student body community around App State is a key feature of the university, and many students experience it within their first year at App State. 

“There is something so special about fall the freshman year,” said Andrew Lail, a first-year seminar professor.

Lail has been teaching at App State for around four years, focusing his first-year seminar class on social justice issues. 

“I see the full process of freshman year,” Lail said.

From fall to spring, each semester is a different experience, Lail said. He said students in the fall are still figuring out their social life and academic work balance while navigating the unfamiliar campus. 

This fall, however, the freshman class, along with the rest of App State, had to put their semester on hold. For three weeks, App State suspended campus operations, and many students went home after Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina. October is considered a very important time for both the Boone community and first-year students, Lail said, and the break ruptured the Boone population’s flow.

Noah Cunningham, a freshman computer science major, related the shutdown from Hurricane Helene to the COVID-19 shutdown of 2020. Cunningham stayed on campus during the extended break caused by Helene in his dorm at Mountaineer Hall and described the place as a “ghost town” due to the lack of people there.

For Cunningham, the social aspect of App State was what drove him to apply and go here. He said it was the type of people that drew him to Boone. 

However, Cunningham said the hurricane impacted him on a limited scale. He was in an isolated state for a week during his fall break on campus and found himself more motivated than ever to make friends once students started returning.

“The hurricane taught me to get out of my comfort zone,” Cunningham said. 

He said the hurricane did little to impact his academic year but it pushed him to create a community for himself.

The three-week break due to Helene did not cause much of a negative academic impact on Lail’s class of first-year students, Lail said. The break provided time for students to adjust to the college environment, and many teachers — including himself — were accommodating.

However, the hurricane itself did leave a lasting emotional impact on many students, Lail said. The destruction Helene caused to both the environment and the Boone area struck many students, freshman or otherwise.

“How do you focus on school if you’re having to go home and pick up the pieces?” Lail asked.

After the fall semester ended and spring started, freshmen were keen to get back into their rhythm, Lail said. He described the spring semester as a time for first-year students to gain momentum into college life and figure themselves out. 

Pallaigar and Cunningham both discovered their friend groups during the spring semester and rely on their social lives to push themselves. 

As a season of change and growth, the spring allowed students to expand upon their interests and community involvement. 

“It’s really cool watching freshmen grow,” Lail said.