By Conner Stanfield
stanfiel2@grinnell.edu

An adventurer, a performer, an artisanal miner, a swimmer and a social activist are just a few members of the incoming class of 2023. They also happen to be the five incoming students featured so far on the College’s Instagram account, @grinnellcollege.

Since Feb. 11, the College has featured five members of the incoming class of 2023 on its official Instagram account. Their posts usually include two pictures of the highlighted student, a short introductory blurb and a quote about why the student chose to attend Grinnell over other colleges. All the students who have been featured so far applied through the College’s early decision application process, so they are committed to attending the College this fall.

This is the first year that the College’s Instagram has highlighted students from the incoming class. In an email to The S&B, Katy Tucker ’16, admissions counselor, wrote, “A couple of years ago, we started including an optional ‘Why Grinnell’ supplement in our application. We receive so many thoughtful, heartwarming answers to this question from our applicants and were eager to share their voices, in their own words, with a wider audience.” Admissions counselors decided to post on the College’s Instagram account rather than on Facebook due to the platform’s increased popularity with Gen Z.

Initially, some of the incoming students were a little concerned about being showcased to so many people. Gyana Singh ’23 from New Delhi, India, wrote, “It feels scary at first.” Antarah Chopra ’23, a soccer player from Burlingame, California, shared that sentiment, writing, “At first, I felt a bit weird.” Lucy Polyak ’23 from Iowa City, on the other hand, was much more enthusiastic: “I’m also not at all shy, so that wasn’t really a problem at all.”

Still, all three eventually came around to the idea. “I’m glad I have the chance to get to know the other students in my class,” wrote Chopra. “We are able to gain interest from other students considering Grinnell as well.” On a personal level, Singh wrote, “[I] felt like it was a fresh beginning and I needed to put myself out there.”

Chopra, the first student of the class of 2023 to be featured on the College’s Instagram, was excited to see posts of other students. “They all seem so passionate and kind,” she wrote. Polyak agreed that the posts were “a cool way to start getting connected to people that I’ll get to know further at Grinnell.” Singh said that she “felt touched” by the obvious care the admissions staff put into reading their applications and picking students to profile.

The five students who have been profiled so far, along with others the Office of Admissions has reached out to, were selected based on their “level of engagement with Grinnell Admission staff throughout the application process,” according to Tucker. She also emphasized the importance of highlighting Grinnell’s diversity, so they made sure to choose “people with a broad range of identities, hometowns, intended majors (including undecideds), extracurricular commitments and passions.”

Along with highlighting diversity, Tucker hopes that the posts with incoming students in their Grinnell gear will show school spirit.