Finding friendships from the start
Staff Commentary
Corey Smith
Issue date: 9/6/07 Section: Opinions
- Page 1 of 1
If you're a college freshmen like me, you're probably still feeling out where all your classes are, what the most delectable meal in the Dining Commons is, and just how to take care of that unsightly pile of sweaty clothes gathering in the middle of your dorm room. However, one thing I can safely say I've had no problem adjusting to is feeling like I fit in on campus.
Leaving all but a few acquaintances nearly two hours away and having to join a floor of some forty odd people sounded horrific prior to move-in day. I was ready to puke up my breakfast on the drive up. There I was, sitting in a car full of ecstatic aunts and my mother, all talking to me and prodding me with questions while my belongings rumbled in the back, almost ready to fly off at any second, much like the contents of my stomach.
Finally I arrived at Fiske Hall, and from then on in, I've developed a bond with some of the most incredible people I've ever met in my life. I don't know if the Honors Committee fully knew or understood what monster or masterpiece (depends on who you ask) they created when putting such compatible students together, but hopefully the companionship of the third floor Honors students will start to spread across campus.
Before I go further, I feel I must divulge some of the more factual details of how the Honors Program came to be. Through the efforts of many Keene State College staff, faculty and administration, a separate program for Honors students was instated. The intention of this program was to have a group of select students live together on a common floor and have one or two classes together to enforce the "living/learning" community idea seen here.
Anyone that ventures to third floor of Fiske can witness that sense of community. For college students, and freshmen especially, we've really latched onto that concept and carried it to the point where we're making group decisions all the time, listening to each other, and living happily in a coeducational area.
This mutual understanding and like of each other has come as both a pleasant surprise and shock to my floor-mates and myself. I don't think any of us were expecting to get along as well as we do. I know I was expecting some obnoxious troublemakers or ultra conservative scholars to make me dread ever sliding my ID card to enter those Fiske doors.
This led me to wonder and eventually mildly search for other instances of this kind of experience on campus. After being in a few different residence halls, I was disappointed to discover that none of them nearly reach the level of friendship I see in my floor.
Some of the stories I was told while meeting people revealed students who sit in their rooms with their roommates, staring at their computers, silent. It seems rather odd and disturbing in this day and age to be fine talking to someone through a computer networking site like Facebook, but unable to simply turn and utter a "hello".
Entire hallways can have closed doors with nothing showing but offensive or dirty messages scrawled on white boards.
My search is menial, so hopefully I can be proven wrong and witness other areas of campus that are as friendly as the Honors floor. I mean, what other people on your floor knock on your door or walk in to let you know you're all going to dinner together, or to play ping pong or pool in the game room? What other place does the majority of the floor hang out in the common room either reading, playing guitar, racing, or just being really loud?
I cannot believe how wonderful my transition into college has been knowing that I live in a place that is practically as comfortable and peaceful as my house itself.
Keene State College, you've done something very right by instituting an Honors Program and then picking the perfect students to be in a living community together. It's literally gone off without a hitch, and the best part is it's only the beginning.
Corey Smith is a freshman majoring in journalism. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the Equinox.
Leaving all but a few acquaintances nearly two hours away and having to join a floor of some forty odd people sounded horrific prior to move-in day. I was ready to puke up my breakfast on the drive up. There I was, sitting in a car full of ecstatic aunts and my mother, all talking to me and prodding me with questions while my belongings rumbled in the back, almost ready to fly off at any second, much like the contents of my stomach.
Finally I arrived at Fiske Hall, and from then on in, I've developed a bond with some of the most incredible people I've ever met in my life. I don't know if the Honors Committee fully knew or understood what monster or masterpiece (depends on who you ask) they created when putting such compatible students together, but hopefully the companionship of the third floor Honors students will start to spread across campus.
Before I go further, I feel I must divulge some of the more factual details of how the Honors Program came to be. Through the efforts of many Keene State College staff, faculty and administration, a separate program for Honors students was instated. The intention of this program was to have a group of select students live together on a common floor and have one or two classes together to enforce the "living/learning" community idea seen here.
Anyone that ventures to third floor of Fiske can witness that sense of community. For college students, and freshmen especially, we've really latched onto that concept and carried it to the point where we're making group decisions all the time, listening to each other, and living happily in a coeducational area.
This mutual understanding and like of each other has come as both a pleasant surprise and shock to my floor-mates and myself. I don't think any of us were expecting to get along as well as we do. I know I was expecting some obnoxious troublemakers or ultra conservative scholars to make me dread ever sliding my ID card to enter those Fiske doors.
This led me to wonder and eventually mildly search for other instances of this kind of experience on campus. After being in a few different residence halls, I was disappointed to discover that none of them nearly reach the level of friendship I see in my floor.
Some of the stories I was told while meeting people revealed students who sit in their rooms with their roommates, staring at their computers, silent. It seems rather odd and disturbing in this day and age to be fine talking to someone through a computer networking site like Facebook, but unable to simply turn and utter a "hello".
Entire hallways can have closed doors with nothing showing but offensive or dirty messages scrawled on white boards.
My search is menial, so hopefully I can be proven wrong and witness other areas of campus that are as friendly as the Honors floor. I mean, what other people on your floor knock on your door or walk in to let you know you're all going to dinner together, or to play ping pong or pool in the game room? What other place does the majority of the floor hang out in the common room either reading, playing guitar, racing, or just being really loud?
I cannot believe how wonderful my transition into college has been knowing that I live in a place that is practically as comfortable and peaceful as my house itself.
Keene State College, you've done something very right by instituting an Honors Program and then picking the perfect students to be in a living community together. It's literally gone off without a hitch, and the best part is it's only the beginning.
Corey Smith is a freshman majoring in journalism. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the Equinox.
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