THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 30, 1994 TAG: 9412280176
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Can a college student survive on dining hall food? How tough is an honor system? What is life like in a coed dorm? How large are your classes? What about alcohol and drugs on campus?
A dozen Churchland High alumni, all first-year college students home on winter break, spent an hour fielding those questions and more as they shared an insiders' view of campus life with more than 40 college-bound Churchland seniors.
Bradford Andrews, senior English teacher, established the informal seminars as an annual tradition for seniors in his advanced-placement English classes. It is a program he developed while teaching at I.C. Norcom High School and has continued at Churchland for the last five years.
Each year he invites recent alumni to come back and share their campus experiences and insights.
This year's panel came from Virginia Tech, James Madison University, University of Virginia, Mary Washington College, Mary Baldwin College, Old Dominion University, Tidewater Community College, College of William and Mary, and Ricks College in Rexboro, Idaho.
``This works because all these kids know each other,'' Andrews said, adding that college freshmen can still easily recall what their major concerns had been just a year before. It also is reassuring for the seniors to see that friends and former classmates just a year older have successfully weathered their first semester.
``We are trying to give the seniors an idea of what they are going to see so it won't be a shock next year,'' Andrews said.
Sara Foster, a first-year student at U.Va., agreed. ``It is the little things that scare you, things like roommates and living in a dorm,'' she said.
``The individual anecdotes can get a little wild sometimes,'' Andrews said with a laugh. ``But the same pattern comes out every year - time management and personal responsibility.''
Ashley Seekford, a freshman at Mary Washington College, remembers picking up some useful tips when she attended the seminar last year as a senior. ``Everyone seemed so old then,'' she said. ``I never thought I would be up here doing this.''
Jennifer Brown, a freshman at William and Mary, felt that although last year's session had been equally helpful to her no one can ever be totally prepared for a college experience.
``Being on your own is so different,'' she said. ``There is nobody to tell you what to do or when to do it and it is all up to you.''
Some of the survival tips the freshmen offered included:
If good food is important to you, aim for James Madison University or Mary Washington College, the two schools represented that were praised for their food service.
At any school, try the vegetarian menu because it generally offers the healthiest and frequently, the best tasting, food.
No matter how bad college food might be, you can always count on cereal and a readily available pizza delivery service.
Coed dorms tend to be cleaner and quieter than single-sex dorms.
Try to schedule all your required courses as soon as possible.
Getting overly involved in extracuricular activities is easy to do but can quickly damage a good grade-point average.
Motivation and the willingness to work hard are the two most important prerequisites for college success. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Seniors at Churchland High School listen to college freshmen, at
left, talk about their experiences.
by CNB