The New Student Experience: My First Week at Simmons (And in Boston)

Posted September 26, 2025 by Brooke Thomson

Hi there! My name is Brooke, and I’m starting my first semester of the MLIS program with a concentration in Archives Management. I thought a good way to start things off might be going over my first week in town. Stick around if you want to hear more about the famous September 1st move-in, my first days of class, how I joined a club called Panopticon, and what went down at the President’s Welcome and SLIS Kick Off event!

Move-In Day
If you don’t live in Boston, you probably don’t know that most leases here turn over on September 1st (I sure didn’t). In a city affectionately called “America’s College Town”, that means on this day every year, thousands of Boston students—and their families, friends and movers—hit the streets with boxes and furniture galore. Parking is a nightmare, Target is a warzone, and so much stuff gets left out on the curbs that Boston has its own unofficial curb-shopping holiday called “Allston Christmas.” Allston is a neighborhood of Boston well-known for its college student residents, but I can confirm this phenomenon occurs all around town.

Moving in early is highly encouraged to avoid some of the chaos, but unfortunately I didn’t have that option. I made it to my new apartment on the afternoon of September 1st . It’s a three-story brownstone just south of Fenway on a skinny one-way street, where the only people allowed to park on either side have Resident Permit Stickers. My mom and I didn’t have a sticker, but we did have a lot of boxes to carry and no desire to hike across town. So we risked parking right outside and were lucky enough to get away with it. Your chances of getting a ticket on September 1st are low, but never zero, so proceed with caution if you decide to do the same!

I chose this apartment because of its proximity to campus and the Green Line train. It takes me around twelve minutes to walk to class. My new home also comes with three other girls around my age, which is pretty par for the course here. Most students live together in groups of at least three or four to afford exorbitant rental prices in this otherwise lovely city. Facebook Marketplace is a very valuable resource for apartment hunting—I found my place through a sub-group called “Betches of Boston Housing.” I’m happy to report that we’re getting along great so far! Also, if you plan to buy groceries or household items on or near move-in day, I recommend shopping a little farther away from the city. Most city stores will be picked clean and crowded by like-minded folks. But do keep an eye out for the Target Student 20% off your entire purchase coupon, and other such student discounts!

My First Days of Class
The next day I had my first class on campus. As a full-time student in the Archives Management concentration, I am currently enrolled in three classes: two in person and one online. They are LIS 407 Information Service, Behaviors & Ethics (online), LIS488 Information for Technology Professionals, and LIS448 Digital Stewardship. My in-person classes meet once a week for three hours each on Tuesday and Wednesday, and my online class is asynchronous. Week one is really just syllabus and icebreaker stuff. At this early stage, I’m going to predict that I end up liking Digital Stewardship the most (we have to do homework at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for that one) but we’ll see!

One of the good things about having such a small campus is that I rarely get lost. I found my classes on the first try, but I’m still figuring out where the REEF center is. I’ll find it eventually, there’s only so many wrong turns I can make right? Right…

On-Campus Events & Extracurricular Opportunities
I wanted to be proactive about extracurriculars and events this year, so I made sure to start following SLIS social media accounts before I even got to Boston to stay in-the-know. Some
highlights are:

 @simmonsslis
 @simmons_lissa
 @simmonsreef
 @panoptigram

There are more SLIS-related social media accounts, but these are the ones I was most interested in! I also reached out to graduate admissions for more information about student orgs and had a great chat with one of the university employees about it. So when I saw a posting for new board members at LISSA, I sent in an application. The president of that organization also chairs Panopticon, the arts & media librarianship student org, and ended up redirecting me towards an open position with them instead. Now I am officially the Communications Coordinator of Panopticon! My role is primarily to manage our organization’s website, while also assisting with planning and attending Panopticon events. I decided to participate in this for three main reasons: I’m interested in the subject matter, I think it will help me get to know people, and hopefully it will help me find a job in the long run.

If you’re reading this, you might’ve met some of the student organizations at our SLIS Kick Off Event on September 6th! I was there meeting Panopticon members for the first time. For those unfamiliar, the SLIS Kick Off Event allowed SLIS students to meet each other and learn about SLIS student organizations while enjoying free food and cake. Two additional activities were going on a guided tour and signing up for a Boston Public Library card—I skipped the tour, but you bet I got a library card! It was a low-key social event with a great turn-out, and I hope they do it again next year.

I had just gotten my student ID before coming too, so here I am showing it off with my goodies.

And that’s a wrap on week one! I hope you enjoyed reading about it.
Till next time ��