Profiles In College —

Returning Freshmen Offer Insights and Advice To NHS Students Look Ahead To College

By Laurie Borst

It’s August and members of the Class of 2006 are preparing to leave for their freshman year at college. The members of the Class of 2007 are thinking about which school they’d like to attend. Questions abound. What size college should I choose? City or country? Near or far?

Fortunately, members of the Class of 2005 are home for the summer after their first year, and they have some answers.

Following are some of their thoughts looking back on the past year’s experiences. Storage space and weather considerations seemed to be important for most of the returning college freshmen.

University Of Southern California — Kaelyn Eckenrode is attending USC in the Annenberg School of Journalism. Her major is broadcast journalism and international relations. Kaelyn chose USC because of the excellent reputation of its journalism program.

USC is a large university with 33,000 students. And it is 3,000 miles away from Newtown. “Don’t let distance be an intimidating factor,” Kaelyn said. “My parents were great. I could always call home.” And her mom would send “care packages” containing cookies and other goodies.

“She would include articles from the New York Times. At home, we would read the Times and discuss the articles,” Kaelyn explained.

Kaelyn found it was easy to meet people. “Everyone wants to make friends,” she said. “I was a reporter for the Daily Trojan [USC’s student newspaper] and I taught a cardio-kickboxing class. Both helped me meet people.”

It was also helpful that her family had spent time each summer in Santa Barbara and some of their friends live in the area. Kaelyn did find that when special events were happening at home, it was a little hard to know she was missing them.

“My Grandma’s 90th birthday party was when I was away at school. I couldn’t come home for it,” she related.

Kaelyn lived in an apartment rather than a dorm. She suggests gift cards to stores like Bed, Bath, & Beyond which can be used when you arrive at your school, rather than having to ship a lot out. She also suggests thinking about the weather where you’re going. “You don’t need a winter coat in LA,” she said.

Kaelyn plans to continue teaching the cardio-kickboxing class and writing for the paper. Her beat will be the LAPD Department of Public Safety.

University Of North Texas — Alicia Rogers chose to attend college in Texas. Like Kaelyn, she knew people there. Alicia has a grandmother in Dallas and an aunt and uncle who live in the area. “I’ve been visiting there every summer,” Alicia said in a phone interview. She did not come home this summer. Alicia is working near school over the summer break.

Alicia knew she wanted to major in music and UNT has a well-respected music program.

As Kaelyn had suggested, Alicia said it’s important to check out the weather. Heavy winter coats are not necessary in Dallas.

New York University — Nick Isles is studying music composition at NYU. Of his decision to attend NYU, Nick said, “I was drawn to it. They have a good program. The scholarship package was really good. I’d get more bang for my buck.”

NYU is not a typical college campus. The buildings cover several blocks in lower Manhattan. There is no central quad or gathering area. “That’s a little weird. There’s no real social life,” he said. “But I have the chance to explore the city.”

Nick’s dorm is off Union Square. “I brought a lot of amps and instruments I didn’t really need. You don’t need toys or junk or gadgets. You want some flair for around the dorm room,” he suggested.

“I considered transferring during the first semester. Then I realized it was where I should be. NYU is in the city, the middle of the scene,” he said.

Villanova University — Jessica Yakush is biology major at Villanova University 20 minutes outside of Philadelphia. Villanova was her first choice of colleges.

“I love the location,” Jessica said. “It’s accessible to trains, planes, everything. There are two trains. The local gets you around Villanova and the express takes you into Philly.”

There are approximately 6,300 students at Villanova. “It’s bigger than high school but not overwhelming,” Jessica said. “We are broken up into “learning communities” and live in the same building. All freshman take a humanities that is small. There were 16 students in my class. It helps build community.”

She reported feeling very comfortable at Villanova. The school is situated in a residential area. “It feels very safe. You see adults jogging. People walk with their kids to the stores,” she explained. “Teachers live in the neighborhoods around the school.”

Jessica said at night you see public safety officers on bikes around campus. Lots of students are out at night. “My roommate liked to study in the library until midnight. Lots of other students were doing the same thing, so walking back to the dorm felt safe.”

When she left for college, Jessica thought she was bringing the bare minimum, yet she found herself bringing things she didn’t need back home on weekend visits. She suggests under-bed storage containers. “Think hard about storage, you’re sharing a small room. I found under the bed containers about as long as a twin and two feet wide that were stackable and could roll in and out.”

Jessica reported some of the people in her dorm had stackable crates that would fall over often. They would end up getting rid of them.

Jessica also suggests that when considering a school, one should think about distance. “At first, I wanted to go far away. But from here, I can be home in three hours. If there was an emergency, my parents could be here as quickly.”

Her final advice: “It can be intimidating to enter a new situation. But remember, everybody’s in the same boat.”

The College Of New Jersey — Sara Davis, a chemistry major, attends The College of New Jersey in Ewing just outside of Trenton. TCNJ has roughly 6,000 undergraduates. “It’s a good size, not overwhelmingly large,” Sara said, “Nor repressively small.”

“The campus is gorgeous. It looks like a college to me with brick buildings, walkways, trees, and flowers in the spring,” she added.

Ewing is a residential town. “Three gas stations and nothing in walking distance,” Sara reports. “The shuttle service is unreliable. It’s frustrating to be stuck on campus. There are no restaurants, or anything to walk to. But, I also wouldn’t want to be in downtown Trenton. It’s not safe.”

Sara was wary of going to a college that neither she, nor anyone else, had even heard of. “But, college admissions offices have heard of it, even if no one else has,” she says.

“If you can see the dorms before you go, do it. You see how small it really is. Think about what you can fit,” Sara advises. “Be practical about clothes. Occasions where you have to dress up don’t happen that often. You see a lot of sweat pants and jeans around campus. Your wardrobe doesn’t need to be that formal. The closets aren’t that big.

“I brought so much stuff. I am an over-packer. I like to have something for every possible situation. I could buy stuff, but if I all ready have it, why spend the money? And campus bookstores are a rip-off. It’s good if you can get to stores.”

Sara suggests having some dishes and silverware. Then you can shop at the store and eat-in or get take-out. Microwavable and storage containers are also useful.

“It’s worth it not to put the pressure of ‘what college is’ on yourself, to have ‘the time of your life.’ Devote your time to doing well,” Sara offered. “You spend so much time thinking about what it might be, but you can never really prepare. It’s such a new situation. Roll with the punches. If you make it miserable, it’ll be that way. Deal with it. You never know what’s going to happen!”