Sophomore Success Initiative

A New Approach to Sophomore Year

At St. Lawrence, the phrase “sophomore slump” isn’t in our vocabulary because we support you through every stage of your academic journey.  We see your sophomore year as a time to build on the foundational skills you learned during your first year with hands-on learning, career exploration, and creative research projects. 

Use your sophomore year to let your curiosity flourish as you explore academic passions and come closer to declaring your major, tap into the alumni network and begin forming lifelong connections with fellow Laurentians, and hone the leadership and advocacy skills you’ll need to make a difference, big or small, in the communities that matter to you.

Student Stories 

The Saints Start Challenge Grant program enabled Noah Neverette ’21 to intern at the Adirondack Sky Center and Observatory. He led informal science education classes for youth in the community during the week and hosted stargazing events on Friday nights. 

Sophia Alvarez ’21 used her grant to conduct ethnographic research on Garifuna communities in Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. She learned how their culture is reflected in the education of their children through interviews with educators and parents. She also had the opportunity to connect with Garifuna anthropologists, psychologists, and sociologists throughout her research process. 

A desire to learn more about coding and programming drove Carmen Libombo ’23, an international economics and multi-language double major, to become a digital scholar fellow. She’s passionate about furthering the goals of sustainable development, and hopes to leverage her digital skills to create innovative solutions in her home country of Mozambique. 

Matthew Derouchie ’23 enrolled in a Sophomore Seminar to explore his interest in the economics major at St. Lawrence. Throughout the course, he learned about the role of the Federal Reserve, discussed monetary policy decisions in real time, and had opportunities to hone his networking skills while conducting informal interviews with alumni.