Visiting a college campus for the first time can be a thrilling, scary, and overwhelming experience – sometimes all three at once.
I remember being nervous when I stepped onto my first college campus. In fact, I was terrified. I was sure that my overly-excited parents, though well-intentioned, would be so caught up in their zeal of being back on a college campus that they would do something (anything!) to embarrass me in front of my potential future classmates.
We walked past the drum circle and I held my breath. I distracted my parents with a fake cough when a group of students mentioned an experimental slam poetry open mic night at a nearby hip cafe. Despite it being a hot day, I avoided that oversized game of slip-and-slide on the front lawn like the plague. In the end, I somehow managed to survive.
But looking back now, I know that a far scarier experience for me would have been going to that first college campus on my own. No parents to wake me up before noon on a summer day and drive me. No stories from my big brother about dorm life, cafeteria food, and the freshman 15. No advice from how my mom about how she chose her major. No tips from my dad about how to handle living with roommates. None of it.
And without that family support, who knows, maybe I would have skipped that campus visit altogether.
Well that’s exactly the situation (and danger) our students face as the first in their families to go to college.
To help overcome this, First Graduate® organizes campus visits throughout the year to expose our students to what campus life is like, discover what kind of school and campus is right for them, and begin to assemble a list of potential schools they are interested in.
Earlier this week we packed 15 of our students (2 seniors, 5 juniors, and 8 sophomores) into a caravan and headed up to Sonoma State University for a tour of the campus. For many of these students it was their first time on a college campus.
Although the weather in Sonoma was a little cloudy it didn’t rain on their parade. The students had an amazing time walking around campus, meeting students, and getting just a taste of what their college experience might look like.
Next step, college applications, so stay tuned!
