Sophomore year, first-year questions
![After 17 months of COVID-19-related on-campus limitations, sophomores and new students alike face learning the college ropes anew. Marcella Runell Hall, dean of students, discussed the challenges with the Boston Globe.](/sites/default/files/styles/1170x780/public/news-images/marcella-runell-hall-2018.png?h=9396f34a&itok=yU6DN1ZD)
Mount Holyoke’s Marcella Runell Hall discussed reorienting this year’s sophomores alongside new first-year students with the Boston Globe.
By Keely Sexton
With the return to fully in-person learning comes a new but not-new challenge: sophomores who started their college education remotely are coming to campus for the first time.
The basic things — such as room locations, mailboxes, meal times and health services — are all new. The Boston Globe interviewed Marcella Runell Hall, dean of students and vice president for student life, on the topic.
“There is an expectation — under different circumstances — that sophomores might have figured out most of this stuff already,” she said.
To meet the post pandemic challenge of orienting not-new students to a campus they may never have seen before, Mount Holyoke College has developed “reorientation” groups.