Rorie Newman ’24 is from Canton, N.Y. She is a creative writing major with a specialty in poetry, and minors in computer science and classics.
She lived in Glenview her first year and has been the CA in Wertimer, Keehn, and Major, where she lives now.
She requested to be CA for first-year students all three years because she believes it’s especially important to help accommodate new students during such a big transition.
How does she help make the Hill a good place to live?
On why she became a CA:
“I had a tough time adjusting to college my freshman year and thought the workload was insane. It was a big transition work-wise, and I was having trouble making friends. Eventually, I toughed it out, and I made a lot of good connections, including with my CA in my building. He helped me a lot — to relax and let me know it was all going to be okay.”
“I knew that I wanted to help people not feel how I felt. I wanted to be someone they could come to. I know I put off talking to people for a while because I didn’t know who was available to me, and so I just wanted to make myself available and be that person who’s there to listen and help you get through stuff.”
“I think it’s fun to be a CA for first-years because they are brand new to Hamilton and college, and they just want to show up and know everything and do everything possible. They bring such awesome energy that I feed off of.”
“I had a tough time adjusting to college ... I wanted to help people not feel how I felt. I wanted to be someone they could come to.”
On how she shows that she cares:
“I spend an exorbitant amount of time on my decorations because I think they’re fun. Back home, I have a little sister, Wyatt, who would come to me about a lot of the same things my kids here come to me for. I realized my role here was as a big sister to these kids, too, and I want them to know that I’m here and I care like an actual sister would.”
“Maybe [some of] my residents are too cool to show up to my events, but I'll put decorations on their doors and let them know that I’m not too cool to love them.”
On being a FYC Mentor:
“I'm a First-Year Course mentor, too. I didn’t know it was a position until a professor in the Literature Department told me about it and asked me to apply. So I did, and I got it. FYC mentors sit in on class with the students, so we’re like a TA, but we get a lot more face time with the kids and help them get used to the academic culture at Hamilton beyond just the class we take with them. I’m glad I stumbled into this because I love it. I’m making such good relationships with these students.”
“I think of it very similarly to being a CA, except this time, the students see me in a more academic environment. I’m still in touch with probably 50% of my first FYC class.”
“Being an FYC mentor on top of being a CA is fun because not only do I get to do the CA-type, big sister fun stuff, but I was also able to help in an academic sphere. I think a lot of the enjoyment was that I’ve just been with some phenomenal students. I’m constantly blown away by how smart the students are.”
What do Hamiltonians have to say about Rorie?
Rorie did an incredible job of creating a community out of the essentially random group of first-year students living in the dorm through her programs. Even now that I’m not her resident anymore, she still always says hi to me when we cross paths and asks how I’m doing.” – Lucy Meola ’26
“I probably wouldn’t have been able to adjust, practically or emotionally, to the rigors of college life if it hadn’t been for Rorie. When I was struggling, she made it clear that she was available to help. I will remember her kindness and empathy throughout my time here and beyond.” – Ananya Patel Rao ’27
“Rorie was my CA freshman year when I lived in Wertimer. I’m a junior now, and to this day we still say hi to each other on campus and catch up. She made me feel so welcome on campus. She is such a lovely human and the most supportive CA I’ve ever met.” – Madeleine Bartlett ’25
