Q. Where are you currently attending college?
“Waynesburg University”

Q. Do you like high school or college better?
“It’s hard to compare the two because they are so different. High school at FHS was great for me, and I absolutely loved coming to school each day. College is great too, but it takes a while to feel at home in a place after coming from such a tight-knit high school.”

Q. How did high school prepare you for college?
“I don’t have enough praise for block scheduling and FHS technology programs. It is so much harder for people who come from having eight classes a day to transition to having only two or three classes while also adapting to living on their own for the first time. Most importantly, in high school I learned how to learn for myself. My teachers taught and guided me but they encouraged us to work on projects, research and use our creativity to seek out information ourselves. Professors are there to guide you, but they don’t want to be answering questions that you could Google or watch a YouTube tutorial and figure out yourself.”

Q. What’s it like on a college campus?
“I attend a very small university that is actually smaller than some people’s high schools. It’s overwhelming at first to come in not knowing anyone, but by now I can recognize almost every face I see. Being your own boss and having no one to hold you responsible is super weird at first. I’m not back in my room until midnight most nights and I don’t have my mom calling to tell me to hurry up and get home.”

Q. What is different between college and high school?
“In high school there’s the idea that you do activities to cushion your resume and help get you into college, but in college you don’t need those necessarily and have limited time, so you do the activities that you truly have a passion for and devote your time according to your own personal priorities.”

Q. How did you adjust to college life?
“I spent a lot of time the first few weeks introducing myself and making a point to sit with different groups of people until I found a close group of friends. I also got involved with as many clubs and organizations as possible.”

Q. What do you miss about high school?
“The people! I can honestly say I enjoyed the presence and friendship of every single person I had the pleasure of knowing at FHS.”

Q. What is your perfect job?
“I would love nothing more than to get a teaching degree and teach in the Freedom School District and be able to share the knowledge and life lessons I have with my future students.”

Q. What do you do in your free time?
“Like high school, I have almost no free time, I have gotten good at watching Netflix while doing homework though!

Q. How have your pastimes changed since becoming a college student?
“ In high school I was either planning events or attending activities at school and in the community 24/7. In college, it’s pretty easy to shut your door and just binge on Netflix. I’d say I spend a lot of time working on homework and going to events on campus, but not as much time planning events and being in a leadership role. Although I am a freshman, so that might change.”

Q. What is the biggest change from switching from a high school student to being a college student and living on your own?
“You get to choose whether or not you go to class or sleep at all, you can choose to eat ice cream every meal, or go to the gym and you can choose whether your faith is important enough to you to give up your precious time to attend a church service on Sunday mornings. Overall, in college you are responsible for yourself, there is no one to blame a bad grade or missed assignment on like there seems to be in high school.”