Ben Hernried, ‘13, has just begun his freshman year at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. He plans on majoring in psychology, possibly with a minor or a double major in astronomy.
Q: What extracurricular activities are you participating in?
A: I’ve been doing a lot of rock-climbing. I’ve been climbing outside at this place called Spring Rocks. It’s a giant slab of rock, kind of in the forest area. It’s quite nice. I also do back-country skiing and am on the ski team at Whitman. And I’m part of the pre-health organization.
Q: What’s your favorite class?
A: “Intro to Psychology.” It’s super interesting. The teacher is really cool. He sounds a bit like Gru from “Despicable Me” (he’s Bulgarian).
Q: What has surprised you about your school?
A: The weather is a bit strange. When I first came it was as hot as Sacramento, but lately it has been raining a bit. It transitions a lot, which I was not expecting. I didn’t know that it could be super hot up here or that the weather would be sporadic.
Q: What did you do for orientation?
A: We had a pre-orientation event in addition to orientation. For the pre-orientation we had this thing called a Scramble, when we went kayaking for a week in the San Juan Islands in northwestern Washington. The actual orientation was all right. We had lots of activities and bonding time. There were a couple of seminars and guest speakers, as well.
Q: Any advice for the class of ‘14?
A: Apply to a fair amount of schools and find a school that you fall in love with.
