The Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE) recognizes how difficult the first year of college can be for first-year students. That’s why OUE established an event that acknowledges the hard work that goes into completing your first year at the University of Washington Tacoma.  Spring into Your Sophomore Year is a fun event (held during Spring Quarter) honoring students who devoted their time, hard work, and dedication into finishing their first year of college. This event provides students with the opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments with other first-year students and Core faculty.   

During this event, we have snacks, music, and activities while students, staff, and faculty socialize. One activity, Fly into Your Future Exercise allows students to reflect on their time as a first-year student, their academic goals, and what they enjoyed about college thus far. The best part about this activity is once a student is done writing it down on paper, they get to make a paper airplane with what they wrote and throw it across the room! This exercise gives students the opportunity to express their hopes and aspirations for the future and symbolizes concepts such as success and independence. Bringing those thoughts to the surface can provide a strong driving force for students, but also help them voice their concerns. Overall, this activity enables students to reflect on what they hope to accomplish throughout their time at the University of Washington Tacoma. 

As a result we found that learning was the most important proiority for first-year students', but they also relished their classes, teachers, and meeting new people. Below are the responses we obtained from our students.