{"id":1220,"date":"2014-09-18T19:18:27","date_gmt":"2014-09-18T23:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=1220"},"modified":"2014-09-18T19:18:27","modified_gmt":"2014-09-18T23:18:27","slug":"seniors-offer-insights-during-their-final-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2014\/09\/18\/seniors-offer-insights-during-their-final-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Seniors Offer Insights During their Final Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

By CHAD CARTER –\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>STAFF WRITER<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

School has begun again, and a new class of seniors begins to realize they are nearly finished with their education on Centre\u2019s campus. For many seniors, this means that a deadly disease will soon strike: senioritis. But while that epidemic sweeps campus, another will surely follow. Nostalgia has already started to take root in this senior class.<\/p>\n

I interviewed four seniors, discussing their personal Centre experience, and a clear, enduring love for Mother Centre was the common theme.<\/p>\n

Politics major Kit Thomas came to Centre for reasons shared by many: a high quality education for a great price. Many other students also came to Centre for the small school aspect. \u201cI knew I could get involved right away,\u201d Math major Tristan Conroy said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s still very much true, as long as you apply yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Biology major Barrie Schmitt, Centre offered a similar appeal, as she didn\u2019t want to \u201cget lost and be just a number in class.\u201d She stressed the personal relationships Centre students enjoy with their professors. \u201cMy expectations have been exceeded. Your professors want to invest in you academically and they want to help you grow as much as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessors will really go above and beyond their calling to make sure students are doing okay,\u201d Conroy said.<\/p>\n

Computer Science major Jess Pritchett has been happy with the small school aspect as well. \u201cCloseness with people is the thing that stands out the most,\u201d Pritchett said.<\/p>\n

However wonderful their time here has been, every senior is bound to have some things they wish would change. One sentiment was that Centre could do more to prepare students for<\/p>\n

the \u201creal world\u201d after college. \u201cCentre coddles you,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cNo rent, no utilities \u2013 it\u2019s not the real world.\u201d<\/p>\n

She expressed that she would like to see off-campus housing as a more readily available experience for students who want to learn various skills of living truly on their own.<\/p>\n

Thomas\u00a0maintained\u00a0that for \u201creal world\u201d experience, study abroad was invaluable.<\/p>\n

While some students love the small town charm, others like Pritchett sometimes wishes Centre had a different location. \u201cSometimes you just get cabin fever,\u201d Pritchett said. \u201cEspecially after going to big cities the last few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conroy expressed a desire for more collaboration between departments. \u201cI\u2019m a Math major. I know they had a CentreTerm class, Math and Glass. To me, that\u2019s what liberal arts is: learning about things that come together, not just saying, \u2018You\u2019re a math major, you study math.\u2019 I think the Centre\u00a0Term class is cool, but why can\u2019t these be full semester classes? Why are the classes so much like other schools? You could put any two subjects together, and there should be overlap. That would make us so much different from every other school.\u201d
\nThere are also quite a few things these seniors hope doesn\u2019t change. Schmitt loves Centre\u2019s \u201cculture of being accepting and happy to see people.\u201d Having gone abroad, she appreciates that unlike in Europe, at Centre \u201cbeing friendly is the cultural norm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schmitt elaborated, \u201cI have been exposed to a lot of diversity: socio-economic, religious, social, all different kinds,\u201d Schmitt said. \u201cI was able to get outside of myself and decide \u2018Is this what I believe?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

As they look forward, these seniors have many aspirations for how they want to leave Centre. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be important to end things right and on good terms with people,\u201d Pritchett said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to continue in newfound friendships and keep old friendships. To give them more time and effort to keep them for years to come,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe relationships I\u2019ve built here, I never want to close that door,\u201d Conroy said. \u201cThose relationships have helped define who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for all the reminiscing, there was still the momentum of graduating. Schmitt expressed her desire to \u201csoak up every last minute of college,\u201d but maintained that she wouldn\u2019t wish for more time. \u201cIf there were a fifth year I don\u2019t think I would be happy with it. Centre has done a good job with getting us ready to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m conflicted,\u201d Pritchett said, \u201cbecause it\u2019s a four-year program for a reason and it\u2019s time to move on, but it\u2019s also very utopian here, it\u2019s hard to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

It sounds like the seniors have accepted that it\u2019s nearly time for them to graduate. Before they\u2019re gone, however, I asked them to share a few words of wisdom for incoming first-years:
\n\u201cWork as hard as you possibly can in your first and second semester and continue on,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cGet involved in anything you can, anything you\u2019re interested in. Experience as much as you can because the opportunity for this does not ever come again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThrow yourself into college, find what you love,\u201d Schmitt said. \u201cTake a more holistic view. It\u2019s easy to get caught up in school; it\u2019s easy to lose sight of what\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGet to know your professors,\u201d Conroy said. \u201cGet to know them as actual people. 99 percent of the time you will find some sort of common interest. Once you find that common interest and that bond, it just makes it so much fun. It changes it from \u2018I have to work my butt off to impress this person\u2019 to \u2018we\u2019re learning together.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst off, don\u2019t wear lanyards, as tempting as it is,\u201d Prtichett said. \u201cBut really, try not to limit yourself by being too exclusive or trying to fit into a certain group too fast. Try things you wouldn\u2019t try, and come out of college with some good stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

All in all, the seniors\u2019 departure will be celebrated and dreaded and tears of both joy and sadness will be shed as May draws nearer and nearer. The best we can say, seniors, is we\u2019re glad you came, and we hate to see you leave. Here\u2019s to you, and a fantastic year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By CHAD CARTER –\u00a0STAFF WRITER School has begun again, and a new class of seniors begins to realize they are nearly finished with their education on Centre\u2019s campus. For many seniors, this means that a deadly disease will soon strike: senioritis. But while that epidemic sweeps campus, another will surely follow. Nostalgia has already started […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1221,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}