|
  Test Driven
Kori Heavner '96 of Lubbock, Texas, split her junior year between Sweden and Turkey and spent Jan Plan in
Germany. But it wasn't until she returned home last summer that she started
carrying vocabulary words around in her pockets.
She expected minor problems readjusting to everyday English and she anticipated
what returning international students call "reverse culture shock"; what really
threw her were the words she found in the tutorials she used to prepare for the
Graduate Record Examination (GRE) last summer--words like "ineluctable,"
"bedizen," "detumescence" and "coeval."
Heavner decided to take the GRE in Texas during August, anticipating that life
would be considerably busier when she got back to Colby than it was at home
during the summer. Back on campus this fall, watching and counseling her
classmates as they prepared for GRE testing during the academic year, she's
glad it's behind her and that she can say it was no big deal. She may have been
"insouciant," she says, invoking her new vocabulary to relate how she was
neither obsessed nor overly stressed by the exam. "If I hadn't done as well,
maybe I'd have better stories to tell," she said.
Carmen Spear '96 of East Aurora, N.Y., has wedged GRE cram sessions into a
frenetic fall semester schedule. She dropped a class this semester to make time
for looking into graduate programs in journalism while completing a senior
honors thesis on 16th-century Spanish literature. She was depending on fall
break, a four-day weekend that conveniently fell just before the exam was
administered in October, to study for the GRE. "I'm more stressed out about
getting my grad school applications out on time [than about the GRE]," she
said.
Spear's lack of anxiety does not diminish the GRE's import but reflects her
ability to budget time and juggle multiple responsibilities, skills developed
during her first three years in college, she says. "When I'm busiest, I'm most
efficient," she said.
While other Colby seniors reported taking the additional responsibility of
preparing for the GRE in stride, they all agreed that it adds to an already
heavy workload. Eva Piotrowski '96 of Quincy, Mass., is taking the exam in
April because conventional wisdom says students perform best during or right
after their undergraduate studies. Scores are good for five years. In part
because she's not planning to go directly to graduate school, Piotrowski said
she wasn't too worried about the exam. "A lot of my friends are talking about
going to grad school right after they graduate from here. They're the ones I've
been talking in off of ledges all week," she said.
Mark Mortensen '96, of Millwood, N.Y., planned to take the general GRE in
October and the subject test for computer science in December. He wants to go
directly into a Ph.D. program, which, unlike master's programs, requires the
computer science GRE score. While he agreed that taking the exam in the summer
might relieve some pressure during the academic year, he concluded that,
whether it competes with a summer job or the academic workload, "It's pretty
inconvenient no matter when you do it."
"Taking [the GRE] in the summer might be useful," Mortensen said, "because it
would get an additional strain out of the way. If you're carrying a full course
load and applying for graduate school or applying for jobs it can get pretty
excessive."
Registrar George Coleman, who administers the tests at Colby for the
Educational Testing Service, noted that athletes have an added variable when
away games are scheduled on test dates. Players on visiting teams have been
known to take the GRE in Lovejoy on a Saturday morning and then suit up to play
against the White Mules the same afternoon, he says. Coleman says that, while
the number of Colby students who take the GRE fluctuates from year to year, he
hasn't noticed any long-term increase or decrease.
As important as the GRE is, students are keeping it in perspective. "It is my
senior year and I'd like to have fun," Spear said. "It's not like I'm in my
room every Friday and Saturday night."
Big Sibs Ease First-Year Transition
The transition between high school and college has been
made a little
easier for this year's freshmen by the introduction of the Big Sibs program.
More than 300 Big Brothers and Sisters inaugurated the program this fall by
guiding, counseling and befriending over 500 first-year students, according to
Andy Kruppa '97.
Begun last year in Averill by former hall president Kruppa, Big Sibs expanded
this fall to include all freshmen, transfers and international students. Kruppa
and Associate Dean for Residential Life Jan Arminio worked together with
Presidents' Council to coordinate the program.
During the summer, upperclass student volunteers received information in the
mail outlining the details of the program, according to Kruppa. Included were
the names and addresses of first-years to whom each Big Sib was asked to send a
welcoming post card. Once on campus, Big Sibs were asked to help ease their
Little Sibs into college life through activities such as dinner trips to Big
G's deli, nachos at the Spa or just a walk around campus.
"My Big Sister was very friendly and made me feel more comfortable," said Kelly
Bregou '99. "It was also really nice to get a letter in the mail from her."
After receiving a post card from her Big Sister, Cam McDonough '99 said she
"felt comfortable" about Colby and knew she had a resource to use if needed.
Big Sibs are required to attend one of four informational training sessions
which focus mainly upon academic advising but also include general advice to
relay to students away from home for the first time.
"It's just one more person to provide a caring link to new students," said
Arminio. "Many upperclass students have said to me, `I wish I had had a Big Sib
when I was a first-year.'"
Incoming students are not the only ones who benefit. "Big Sibs feel good [about
the program]," said Arminio. "It's another way for them to get involved with
and help other students."
"It's a good idea for kids to have a kid to talk to rather than an adult," said
Big Sib volunteer Heather Golding '98. "As kids we're basically all going
through the same experience, and it helps to have someone there for you."
Reprinted by permission of The Colby Echo
Living Legacies
Among the legacies in the Class of '99 is Laurie Roberts, the
great-granddaughter of former Colby president Arthur J. Roberts, Class of 1890.
President Roberts, who began his career at Colby as an English instructor, was
instrumental in improving what was then known as the Women's Division when in
1920 he hired Ninetta Runnals '08 as dean of women, paving the way for
advancements in educational opportunities for female students.
|
Stars and Stripes Forever
The Pledge of Allegiance, recited in schoolrooms and at civic functions
across the United States for more than 100 years, was the brainchild of a Colby
alumnus.
Concerned over what he perceived as a lack of patriotism, James Upham, Class of
1835 and editor of the premier children's magazine of the era, Youth's
Companion, set out to restore respect for the nation's flag. Upham
recruited Francis Bellamy, also of the Companion,and together they began
a campaign to have flags raised at every school in the country on October 12,
1892, in honor of the 400th anniversary of Columbus's landing in the New World.
Upham and Bellamy worked with school superintendents throughout America and
raised the funds to purchase the flags, pennies at a time, from schoolchildren.
As an accompaniment to the flag-raising event, Bellamy wrote the prototype of
the verse since memorized by virtually every child in America:
I pledge allegiance to my flag,
and to the republic for which it stands--
one nation, indivisible--
with liberty and justice for all.
|
The Steeple Chase
For several years, Go-to-Church Sunday was an annual event held the
first Sunday of the academic year. Proposed in 1921 by President Arthur
Roberts, the idea was to introduce Colby students to the clergy and to various
places of worship in Waterville.
The entire College assembled at 10 a.m., with each denomination in a separate
group, and marched down College Avenue. Students broke away from the procession
as it passed their place of worship.
The Echo reported in 1922 that every Colby student participated and the
procession was more than half a mile long.
|
Gifts & Grants | Table of Contents | Fifty-Plus Class Notes
|
|