The countdown to Commencement had just kicked off, and with it the class of 2025’s hopes for the future and dreams about what’s next — as well as a bit of nervous energy. It was the perfect time for the College Counseling Office and Alumni Board Engagement Committee’s “Life After Brooks” panel for sixth-form students.

Five young alumni returned to campus the evening of April 29 for the hour-long, question-and-answer session about their experiences adjusting to college and life after Brooks (plus some doughnuts supplied by Alumni Board member Kathy Palmer Smith '88):

• Jordyn Arakelian '18, College of the Holy Cross '22
• Riley Baker '18, Santa Clara University '22 
• Caitlin Kluchnik '15, University of Southern California '19 
• Jameson Lehrer '18, Boston College '22
• Nate Smith '18, Northeastern University '22

“It definitely gave me a sense of relief,” said Cora Witherell ’25. “They talked about how freshman fall will be stressful and there’s a lot of uncertainty but you just have to give it time and it will get better and work itself out.”

Witherell is headed to the University of Richmond and thinking about studying business. “There’s a lot of uncertainty about new beginnings but I think it will be good,” she said. “It’s a fresh start, so it’s exciting.”

Addressing a variety of topics from picking a major and managing time to making friends and studying abroad, the alums offered advice and understanding about how anxious this phase can be for many.  

Smith suggested a simple change in view to keep things in perspective during early days in a new place. “Get out of your dorm room,” leveled the computer science major, now working for an investment company. “I felt more fulfilled once I was off campus exploring and kind of feeling a bit more like an adult.”

But use your time wisely, cautioned Kluchnik, currently employed by a science and clinical research company in Cambridge, Mass.: “You have a lot of freedom and a lot of free time, and it gets really easy to get lost in that.”

Lehrer, for his part, admitted that he’s still figuring out what he wants to do, “but that’s OK.” The political science major recommended “keeping your options open” and not hurrying to focus on a career path in the first years of college. “You can take your time and just do core classes for a couple of years as you figure what you want to do rather than jumping ahead of yourself and being pre-med when you don’t know how to do science, which a lot of people do.”

And if a student’s choices don’t feel like the right fit, Baker encouraged everyone to adjust their plan. “I ended up changing completely in my path,” said the psychology major who began college on the premed track and now works in the professional services industry as a Boston-based recruiter for students pursuing public accounting internships and jobs.  “What I thought I wanted to be is 100 percent not it at all, and I couldn't be happier with how things ended up.”

In contrast, Arakelian stuck with her original goal of graduating with an international studies degree. She credited the time management skills she learned at Brooks with keeping her focused while she kept her college lacrosse career going, too. “Coming from Brooks, where you have a very structured environment, really helped me stay on top of my school work and my sport and still be able to make friends and connections and grow.” Currently, Arakelian is working toward her J.D. at Northeastern University School of Law.

“Everyone has their own path,” Kluchnick reminded students before they departed for the evening. “Don't peg yourself against other people, and don’t peg yourself against your own expectations or people's expectations either. College is meant to be a challenge, academically and socially. You're going to be pushed to grow in a lot of ways. …It's OK to feel uncomfortable.”

If you mentally prepare for that, Baker added, “You’re going to get through it and it’s going to be fine.”

Learn about how Brooks prepares students for the college process.