One Year After Ellis: Francesca LaRoche ’24
Despite some initial nervousness about leaving Ellis for a school where she didn’t know anybody, Ellis Lifer Francesca LaRoche ’24 immersed herself in college life.
The 2024 Ellis graduate headed to Dickinson University last fall, where she has already declared a double major—Environmental Studies, and Law and Policy—as well as a minor in Italian.
She quickly became involved in campus sustainability initiatives and music groups. She also branched out in her classes, discovering that Ellis prepared her well for her first year of college—and, she thinks, for anything that lies ahead. She met with Ellis staff in April to talk about what she learned and experienced during her first year away from Ellis.
When you graduated from Ellis last year, what were you most looking forward to about college?
I was very excited to explore all the new opportunities. Of course, we had a lot of amazing opportunities at Ellis, but it's such a small school. Dickinson is also a small school, but not compared to Ellis! It was very overwhelming at first, coming from a class of 16 girls, but I was just very excited coming in. I basically knew what I wanted to major in, but you still have so much freedom in the different varieties of classes that you can take. I was very excited for the opportunity to branch out and try new things.
What were you most nervous about?
Just the fact that it was a huge change. I was a Lifer at Ellis. I had been there since daycare, so it was pretty much a second home for me. To leave that and come to a place that I've never been before, live away from home for the first time, and have to leave all my friends—some of them that I’ve known since kindergarten—was very nerve wracking. Of course, it all turned out fine in the end. I’ve loved my time [at Dickinson] so far. I was just very nervous about the adjustment of coming here.
What turned out to be the most challenging thing about your freshman year?
Definitely not academics. Ellis prepared me so well. While I was at Ellis, I knew it was a good school and I was getting a good education, but I didn't really appreciate it. Honestly, the biggest challenge—the hardest part—was at the beginning when I first got here. Having to say goodbye to my parents, and those first few weeks of adjusting was definitely the hardest part. But overall, Ellis prepared me extremely well, and I really have not had that difficult of a time coming to college.
What were your favorite experiences from the past year?
I came to school early for a pre-orientation trip. Dickinson offers a lot of pre-orientation programs, and I chose one about sustainability. We went to one of the local state parks, and we went swimming in a lake, kayaking, hiking. On our last night there, they had a chef come in and they helped us cook a vegan meal, which was so much fun. I'm still friends with some of the people in that pre-orientation. It was really nice because we got to see the area around the college.
What are some clubs or activities you joined?
Dickinson’s Center for Sustainability Education runs a program called Eco-Reps. I am an Eco-Rep for my dorm building, and basically my responsibilities are taking care of a compost bin for my dorm and working on group projects. This semester, I was in a group that started a food pantry on campus for anyone in the community who needs it. Our job was to try and get the word out about it.
I also joined the orchestra. Coming from the Ellis orchestra, I had much bigger roles, and then I got here, and it's a much bigger orchestra so the trumpet parts aren't as prevalent. So I ended up switching out of orchestra and I joined jazz band. I've never played jazz before. It was a very big learning curve, but it's been a lot of fun.
What was your experience with your classes?
It felt very similar to Ellis in the sense that a lot of them are discussion based, and teachers want to hear your input. I would say the only thing that kind of threw me off a little bit is that a small class here could contain 30 people. I know 30 people is technically small, but to me that felt very big!
I knew that I wanted to take Environmental Science and Environmental Studies classes, because I wasn't sure if I wanted to go more of the STEM route or the studies route. I realized I don’t like the science side as much, so I declared an environmental studies major. I’m hoping to take some policy classes, and that's why I'm also double majoring in Law and Policy. I took a government class this semester to start learning about the basics. That wasn't my intention coming into school, but once I started taking my government class, I really liked it, so I just went ahead and declared the second major.
How did your Ellis experience help you prepare for college?
In terms of writing, Ellis has prepared me extremely well. Every freshman has to take a first year seminar class, and they all are focused on introducing you to writing at a college level. We had a five-page paper and, for some people, that seems like a lot. But we had to write a thesis senior year at Ellis and mine was 22 or 23 pages. So coming off of that to writing a five page paper was a breeze. I ended up getting a 96 on it. Ellis prepared me so well in terms of writing. I've heard that from alumnae, but then I actually experienced it, and I know that it's very true.
What do you miss about Ellis?
I really miss the all female environment. My mom is going to read this and say, “I told you so!” I refused to look at women's colleges because I've been in an all-girls environment my whole life and needed to try something new. I love it here, but I really do miss having a group of friends that are just all girls. I really miss an environment that is just women and has that kind of girlhood aspect to it.
What are your summer plans?
I just had an interview for an internship, but I don't have anything 100% locked down yet. I'm hoping to do something that has to do with the environment. If an internship doesn't come through, I'm going to reach out to Worm Return, where I did my senior project. I also applied to be an orientation leader for next semester, and I got that so I will be coming back to school about two weeks early at the end of August to get trained for that. I'm very excited for that opportunity.
At this point, what do you think are your plans for your future career?
I still need to figure that out, but a broad picture that I have for myself is that I want to do something with environmental policy. I've always been very interested in government and law, and I know that whatever I end up doing, it will have something to do with the environment, because that's also been a passion of mine for a while.
Is there advice you want to share with Ellis seniors?
In terms of finishing their time at Ellis—enjoy it. My core group of friends from Ellis haven't all been together since we said goodbye over the summer. Our breaks don't line up, so we just haven’t all been together at once and that is such a bizarre feeling. Over the summer, spend as much time with your friends as you can. And then in terms of going into college, I was very nervous about leaving and a lot of my friends were, too. I had a lot of anxieties. I didn't really know what to expect. But feel those feelings. They're valid. Most people are feeling that way who are about to go into college. Talk to your friends about it, because they're probably feeling the same way. But in the end, I swear it'll all be great. Ellis has prepared you so well. You're going to have fun.
