During the second year of virtual Frosh, with only a few in-person events, incoming Carleton students are resorting to using new platforms to engage with fellow students.
For Mathew Gutoskie, a first-year media production design student, the Student Experience Office’s (SEO) online programming did not replace meeting people in-person.
“While trivia may be cool, it’s not really a replacement for actually meeting people,” Gutoskie said.
Gutoskie paid for Frosh but didn’t attend any of the events. Instead, he spent his first week prioritizing spending time with people “in real life.”
“The problem with the online [programming] is you may be in a virtual event with these people, but you can’t talk to anybody, one-on-one without talking to everybody,” Gutoskie said.
Megan Caldwell, a first-year honours art student, attended Friday’s in-person movie night and a number of online events throughout the week, but she said she would have liked to see more in-person events.
“I did some of the online events that we’ve had like the [evening with Kaleb Dahgren], but I wish more was in-person,” Caldwell said.
Although Caldwell felt that there was something missing, she said that Frosh satisfied her interest in meeting new students and getting to know campus life.
“I think they had a good mix of everything like engaging with students and then presentations and then tips and tricks for campus life,” Caldwell said. “I mean, I would prefer if COVID wasn’t here and it isn’t what we thought, but it is what it is.”
Both Gutoskie and Caldwell said they were able to make connections with fellow students outside of the university’s programming through social media.
As early as February, Gutoskie was using social media to meet other students.
Instagram pages such as @Carleton.2025 and @CarletonU_Classof2025 post photos and short introductions submitted by incoming students, giving students the opportunity to connect through Instagram with people in the same program as them. Both accounts have over 2,000 followers and several hundred posts each.
Caldwell said she met students through Snapchat and Discord where she was added to groups with students in her program, from her floor in residence and random collections of students looking to make connections.
“People made random ones, I don’t know how I got added in or how they found me,” Caldwell said with a laugh.
Gutoskie told the Charlatan he signed up for Frosh because of the Ravens starter kit and the opportunity to attend the offered events, even though when the week came he chose not to attend.
“Carleton merch is very expensive, so you get free hoodies and you get free shirts and beanies for $70 which, in my opinion, is not a bad deal.”
At the Carleton bookstore, the classic Ravens hoodie costs $60 and this year students paid $69.99 to participate in orientation, a fee that included access to the scheduled events and the Ravens starter kit.
Grace Haime, Carleton’s student engagement and orientation coordinator, said in an email to the Charlatan that the Ravens starter kit was designed by students.
“A great emphasis had been put in creating value in the Ravens starter kit as well,” Haime said. “[This] included a Classic Black Ravens hoodie, branded Ravens mask, toque, other orientation giveaways and even more Carleton apparel.”
Emily Ketcheson, a first-year law student, said she still appreciated the programming even though she only attended one event.
“I think having the options available to me made it worth it. I got a sweater and two shirts—that’s like $60 on its own from the store,” Ketcheson said. “I don’t regret it.”
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
