In the final months of the school year, as prospective students stream onto campus and seniors chip away at their comp (comprehensive project) work, last week saw the recognition of another group of students: juniors. This year’s Junior Appreciation Week took place from March 11 through March 15. As Third- and Fourth-Year Class Dean Jonathon May explained, juniors can sometimes get lost in the academic shuffle.
“Think about it: Coming in for your first year, you have orientations and weeks of welcome and all the fun,” May said. “Sophomore year you have Declaration Day, picking your major. Senior year, you have senior week, all the fun of graduation, the comps experience. And really the only defining junior experience was the junior seminar.”
Two years ago, a junior student task force came up with the idea to hold a celebration just for juniors, and Junior Appreciation Week was born. Junior class senators from the Allegheny Student Government planned events that were meant to provide a fun atmosphere amidst the chaos of junior year. May explained that junior year is unlike any other for several reasons.
“That’s such a formative year because it sets the tone for, ‘Okay, what am I going to do career wise? Where am I going next?’” May said. “For most folks, you’ve got to decide: am I going graduate school, or am I going workforce?”
Students are well aware of the shift in tone. ASG Class of 2025 President Asaad Bell expressed that freshman and sophomore year were preparation for junior year.
“Whereas my freshman year felt more like coasting, having fun, just like getting to know people, sophomore year was more about deciding where I wanted to go,” Bell said. “Junior year is about really pushing down that path.”
Bell was tasked with planning the week’s events alongside the Class of 2025 senators, taking into consideration what would be feasible and enjoyable for the junior class.
“We just wanted to have the most fun we could have and have it be something that we can actually deliver on,” Bell said.
The events kicked off Monday, March 11 in the Henderson Campus Center lobby, where juniors could grab a wellness bag and a bracelet that would grant them admission to events later in the week. Tuesday featured a Grounds for Change open tab and Wednesday evening was a “Junior Jamboree” with catered dining, again in the campus center lobby.
Liv Samonsky, ’25, reflected on her junior year at the jamboree over a meal with friends.
“Definitely a bit more stressful; starting to think about your comp and being in j-sems (junior seminars) is definitely pretty stressful,” Samonsky said. “But it also feels like I kinda know what to do at this point.”
Senator Lexi Costanza, ’25, has noticed something similar.
“I’ve just been feeling a lot of clarity,” Costanza said. “Thinking about the future, maybe the classes that we’ve taken, how we can best prepare ourselves for what’s coming up in the short-term future and in the long-term.”
Costanza, as one of the organizers of that night’s jamboree, added that the senators wanted to offer activities that took away from the stress of midterms and finals at this point in the semester.
“Everyone put in a lot of work to get this together,” Costanza said.
Thursday was a movie night in Shafer Auditorium with a showing of the Academy Award-winning film “Moonlight.”
The closing event of the week was a celebration of the accomplishments of the junior class. The Junior Pin Ceremony took place in Shafer Auditorium on Friday evening with friends, family and faculty in attendance. While the ASG junior class had free reign on selecting the week’s events, May explained that the pinning ceremony is an indispensable part of the week and the junior experience.
“The pinning ceremony is really one of those sacred ritual ceremonies where we’re acknowledging that the student is moving into the upper class status,” May said. “One of the requirements that we ask is that the student hold onto that pin, and keep it safe, because we want to see them wear that golden pin at commencement, when they’re a senior.”
The pin ceremony began at 5 p.m. with an introduction by May. Dean for the Student Experience Ian Binnington offered opening remarks on the importance and symbolism of the junior pin, followed by a speech delivered by Bell. Lastly, President Ron Cole, ’87, offered advice on the comprehensive project, savoring senior year and life beyond Allegheny.
“Save often. Things happen really fast, life goes too fast,” Cole said. “I would encourage you to slow down once in a while and save a visual snapshot of what you’re doing. … I wish I did more of that.”
May added in an interview that not wasting the summer prior to senior year also sets students up for success. Gathering sources for a literature review is one way to prepare in advance.
“Juggling comps and a job search or graduate school search is a big undertaking, so you want to be as prepared as possible,” May said. “You could be doing a lot internship wise, but you could also be doing a lot to prepare for your comp.”
The ceremony concluded with a class recitation of “The Oath of the Alleghenian,” led by May. Students attached their own pins and officially became recognized as upperclassmen. Afterwards, the class and their guests were invited into the lobby for one more feast.
With just under two months until commencement, Cole ended the ceremony portion of the night on an optimistic note, explaining that he is excited to see the comprehensive projects of the next senior class.
“I am deeply proud of who you are, and I talk about our students to anybody that will listen,” Cole said. “Even those who won’t.”
