{"id":941,"date":"2014-05-03T07:19:02","date_gmt":"2014-05-03T07:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=941"},"modified":"2014-05-03T07:19:02","modified_gmt":"2014-05-03T07:19:02","slug":"looking-back-before-going-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2014\/05\/03\/looking-back-before-going-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking back before going forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

By LAURA HUMBLE<\/strong> –\u00a0STAFF WRITER<\/em><\/p>\n

The semester is finally drawing to a close, and with it, the school year. Students are gearing up for their final papers, tests, and projects and are excited for the day they will have it all behind them. The end of the semester is also a time for personal reflection back on the highs and lows of the 2013-14 school year.<\/p>\n

This is especially true for first-year students who almost have one entire year of their college careers under their belts. Dee Dee Flynn, Gracie Nilsson, and Bryce Rowland spoke about their experiences as first-years at Centre.<\/p>\n

Flynn, Nilsson, and Rowland all hit the ground running the minute they came to Centre. Flynn is involved with Greek life, women\u2019s voices choir, Colonel Corps tour guides, Student Activities Council (SAC), and college choir. Nilsson has also been involved in Greek life and SAC as well as Centre players. Rowland is a part of Greek life, student government, the orchestra, and was a member of the cast for last semester\u2019s production of Our Country\u2019s Good. These activities have served to enhance the college experiences for all three of these Centre students.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite experience at Centre this year was participating in the play [during the] Fall semester. I was able to get close with a group of people I otherwise would not have met,\u201d Rowland said, \u201cand they\u2019re incredible people. It was fun to be part of something so much bigger than myself right off the bat to start college.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along the vein of favorite experiences over the course of the year, Flynn had something to add.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what my favorite experience is at Centre, but I\u2019m not really sure when it happened. My favorite experience was waking up one day during this past year and realizing that I found the perfect college for me. The day I found out that I didn\u2019t fail my finals was also a close second,\u201d Flynn said.<\/p>\n

Joking aside, these first-years\u2019 experiences at Centre have changed their outlook on life, already molding them into the strong leaders full of character and integrity for which Centre strives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to the same small private school for most of my childhood, and while I value the education I received very much, along the way I kind of forgot that there were so many other people in the world besides the ones I went to school with. I tried to stay involved in my city and my community, but there was this disconnect between the people I had been around for most of my life and the people I only saw intermittently,\u201d Nilsson said. \u201cCentre has been wonderful in that it\u2019s reminded me that there are more people in the world than the ones that I saw in my high school hallways.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also said one of her favorite aspects of college is the ability to make new friends and forge strong, lasting relationships with people.<\/p>\n

Flynn, despite having a vastly different background from Nilsson, has come to a similar conclusion.<\/p>\n

\u201cCentre has changed my take on private schools. I went to a huge public school in high school, and, not going to lie, I made fun of the pretentious people who went to private school. However, coming to Centre has made me appreciate the private school environment,\u201d she said. \u201cIt has also made me open my eyes more to other cultures and mindsets. I love my diverse group of friends that I have here at Centre, and they make me a better person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rowland shared this sentiment of how the college is capable of changing its students and changing them for the better.<\/p>\n

\u201cCentre has strengthened my morals and parts of my personality,\u201d Rowland said. \u201cIf you come into this campus a malleable person, it will quickly mold you, whether you want it to or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is interesting to note how quickly Centre can influence and change a person. After just one year, Flynn, Nilsson, and Rowland are already growing into more open individuals.<\/p>\n

So it is only fair that they share their secrets to success.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would advise first-years to be prepared to have the best four years of their lives, but to remember to be intentional with your time. Get in your professor\u2019s office hours often and early because that is the key to doing well at Centre,\u201d Rowland said.<\/p>\n

Upon reflecting on her first year at Centre and her experiences at the college, Flynn was able to give a similar piece of advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmbrace Centre head-on. The students, faculty, and staff here are some of the best people I have met and they make wonderful role models. I would tell first-years that all you have to do at Centre is be yourself and be open to new experiences,\u201d she said. \u201cEven if it means going to a professor\u2019s office hours instead of that nap that you desperately thought you needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nilsson added a note about being openness as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to get involved and try new things, but also don\u2019t feel like you have to continue with the things that don\u2019t fit like you thought they would,\u201d she said. \u201cCollege is incredible because it gives you the opportunities to do so many things and see how they work for you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By LAURA HUMBLE –\u00a0STAFF WRITER The semester is finally drawing to a close, and with it, the school year. Students are gearing up for their final papers, tests, and projects and are excited for the day they will have it all behind them. The end of the semester is also a time for personal reflection […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941","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=941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}