Alumni speak about first-year experiences
By:Joseph Harvie
MONROE High school seniors and juniors got a glimpse into how college life differs from the life they’re used to at high school.
And they got that glimpse with a little help from the high school’s class of 2003.
Former Falcons from state universities such as Ramapo, Rutgers, Rowan and Stockton, and from out-of-state schools such as Lehigh, American, and Cornell universities and one student from Middlesex County College, returned to their alma mater Wednesday, and brought with them tales of life after high school.
Michelle Rockoff, guidance counselor at the high school, said the program has been running for at least 10 years and started when Skip Hines, a former teacher at the high school, brought the idea to her attention.
"It gives the kids, especially the juniors and seniors, a look at what to expect in college and they hear it first hand from former students," Ms. Rockoff said.
The former Falcons discussed issues such as dorm life, security issues, study abroad programs and activities and organizations available on campus.
Owen Fitzgerald, who attends Middlesex County College and is studying civil and construction engineering, said he tried to get involved with different activities at the college, but found he was running short on study time.
"I was going to play golf, but it was too demanding," Mr. Fitzgerald said. "I joined Backstage Players, which is an acting group, last semester, but I probably won’t do that again. It was real time consuming."
He said his studies kept him from joining other groups and clubs as well. He said he has a job that also takes up much of his time. However, he did manage to take advantage of the free pool at MCC by taking up swimming regularly.
Other panelists discussed clubs and organizations that are available for students on campus.
Some mentioned joining fraternities and sororities and others discussed taking positions as student ambassadors.
"I joined student ambassadors and I give tours around the campus to prospective students," said Manan Shah, who attends American University in Washington, D.C.
Heather Polick also joined a program similar to student ambassadors called Student Orientation Ambassadors at Rutgers, where she studies biology and pre-med.
"We give tours of the campus, and we also move in a week early and help freshman move into the dorms," Ms. Polick said. "We basically take a bunch of boxes from the freshmen and bring them to their rooms so the parents can park the car and help set the room up."
Suzanne Pole, who attends Ramapo College in Mahwah, told the college prospects that choosing what type of dorm to move into was an important part of college life.
"You have to choose which ever one suits you better," Ms. Pole said. "I chose a suite type, which had three doubles and a single and we shared a bathroom and living room. It was good because there was always somebody around."
Ms. Pole said that although there were tiffs among the young ladies in the suite, she was able to find friends amongst the group and also she said she found friends in different residence halls.
The students shared their insight to quiet classes, mostly made up of juniors and seniors who attended the program in lieu of gym class for the day.
The students were paying attention but did not ask any questions during the second- and third-period presentations, but Ms. Rockoff kept the topics flying by aiming them at different panelists.
The college students told the high school students that security should not be taken lightly.
"On campus we have Rutgers Police and although they may get goofed on for being ‘rent-a-cops’ they are real police and should be taken seriously," said Ms. Polick.
Ms. Polick said the presence of Rutgers Police is often overwhelming on campus with officers at nearly every corner. She said that at night an escort could be called to walk students studying at libraries back to their residence.
The students also discussed traveling and studying abroad.
Meghan Farrell, who attends Ramapo College, was heading off to Costa Rica to study ecosystems in the Latin American country.
She said she was leaving Wednesday to study jungle and volcano ecosystems with a professor and 14 fellow students. She said she would only be gone for about two and a half weeks.
Other college students said they had plans to study abroad in places like London and Australia, taking courses such as business and accounting.
"I’m looking at studying business or accounting and it is offered in Australia and London and I’ll probably go to London," said Marissa Tringali, who studies business at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. "I need to make sure they fit into my core curriculum."
The alumni also discussed the importance of having an advisor to help students choose the right classes to take.
"Rutgers is a big school, so there is a lot of help out there," Ms. Polick said. "Your advisor will give you their phone number, e-mail address and office hours and you can talk about classes with them. My advisor was not so helpful. He was in food science and when I didn’t want to do food science he was not so helpful. So I went to the dean to set up my next semester’s schedule."
Mr. Fitzgerald thought the program would help those who were listening.
"I remember being where they are, some people listen, some don’t," Mr. Fitzgerald said. "It feels good knowing where you are at with college and some of the kids were in tune, and eventually the others will figure it out."