Senior Advisors returned to their designated freshman homerooms on Monday for the first time since Direction Days.

 A longtime SLUH tradition, Senior Advisors live in freshman homerooms from the start of the school year until the end of the first semester. However, due to COVID precautions, this year’s Senior Advisors could not join their freshman homerooms during the first quarter. Their return marks the first time in almost two years that the Senior Advisors are present in freshman homerooms.

Each year, the Senior Advisors are selected in the fourth quarter of their junior year to guide freshmen during the summer and their first semester to help them develop study skills, provide guidance, and assist them in transitioning from middle school to high school. After being chosen, each advisor is assigned to a group of three to four freshmen to mentor and is responsible for being present in the homerooms every morning during the first semester under normal circumstances. 

Campus minister Stephen Deves believes that it is one of the most crucial relationships a freshman can make during his first couple of weeks at SLUH.

“Having someone older to look up to, to trust, to rely upon when you need help is just a valuable thing,” said Deves.  

Along with freshman moderator Tim Curdt, Deves plays an integral role in facilitating the Senior Advisor program at SLUH. By both training and working closely with Senior Advisors and also being directly familiar with the Senior Advisor experience during his own time at SLUH, Deves gets a direct view of what makes the program so beneficial for freshmen and seniors. 

“In my experience as a freshman, as a Senior Advisor, and as someone who works with freshmen and Senior Advisors,” said Deves. “(I have seen that homeroom) is the time where you really get to know each other.” 

While it is something previous freshman classes may have taken for granted, the absence of Senior Advisors in homerooms last year exposed just how crucial the program is for freshmen. 

“Even though (homeroom) is simple and quick and very loose, it’s just an easy way to get to know each other and build that relationship,” continued Deves. “It’s much easier to have deeper, trustworthy conversations when you just know them every single day.”

The extraordinary circumstances of the last school year coupled with homeroom time simply not being built into the schedule made the Senior Advisors being in freshman homerooms unfeasible. This caused a disconnect between the freshmen and their Senior Advisors.

“That was a real bummer last year,” said Deves. “The Senior Advisors didn’t feel like they really knew their freshmen because they weren’t in homeroom with them every day.” 

The program was not fully ready to be implemented during this year’s first quarter due to lingering Covid class occupancy concerns, but after much deliberation, the decision was finally made to reunite the freshmen and Senior Advisors during homeroom. 

“We really wanted them to be together since the start of the year,” said Deves. “When the question was raised, however, all mutual parties agreed this was a good, beneficial move.”

The students’ responses to the decision have been largely positive, with seniors excited at the opportunity to help further lead the group of SLUH freshmen that they watched grow over the summer during Direction Days, eager to better their relationships with them during their first semester at SLUH. 

“I remember my freshman year always looking up to the Senior Advisors to ask questions or ask for advice,” said senior Nick La Presta. “I’m glad that I can now be in that position for my freshmen in their homerooms.”

For many Senior Advisors, being present in freshman homerooms during the morning transports them back to the different times of their freshman year. Some Senior Advisors cannot believe that they stand in front of the homerooms where their Senior Advisors once stood three years ago.

“It’s definitely reminiscent of my freshman year,” said senior Baker Pashea. “I remember looking up from my desk when morning announcements came on and would just look at the way seniors reacted to them. It’s interesting to experience both viewpoints now as a Senior Advisor.”

The freshmen also enjoy the company of their familiar Senior Advisors in the morning during homeroom, viewing them as moral and academic models that stand at the front of their homerooms. 

 “They always give advice,” explains freshman Luke Gill in regard to the Senior Advisors in his homeroom, “(They) tell us to really work hard freshman year so we don’t regret it senior year when we’re filling out (college) applications.” 

The Senior Advisors are often a freshman’s greatest help during the initial weeks of high school, especially the first day of organized classes. However, without the Senior Advisors’ guidance at the beginning of this school year, some freshmen found themselves under fire on the first couple days of school. 

“I struggled that first day of school,” said freshman Owen Roth. “I could have used my Senior Advisor to guide me to my classroom.”

At the end of the day, the Senior Advisors are overjoyed to be back in the freshman homerooms, filling the shoes of their Class of 2019 counterparts. It’s the little things, like being in freshman homerooms in the morning, that makes being a Senior Advisor worthwhile.

“It’s so fun being that Senior at the front of the homeroom,” said Pashea. “You just want to connect with your freshmen because they see everything so differently.”

While the Senior Advisors will still be leaving the freshman homerooms after the first semester as they have in previous years, Deves and Curdt are looking for new ways for the freshman and their Senior Advisors to better stay in touch during semester two. The work, however, never stops for the Senior Advisors throughout the first semester. They will be leading their freshmen next month for the annual Freshman Retreat on Nov. 22.