Gabby Carlson | Echo
Last week, around 60 high school students came into our dorm rooms, classes and lives for 24 hours. Taylor students had the job of showing them how wonderful this university is. But this can be difficult at a small school in a cornfield.
Sophomore Mitchell Herrington came on several visits to Taylor before making his decision to attend. "I wish that (my host) actually spent more time with me on my visit," Herrington said.
Not only is it difficult to find things to do on a small campus like this one, but schedules do not stop and plans can't be ignored just because high school students visit. This is made worse because students don't stay through more flexible Friday nights. Since these visits happen from Thursday nights to Friday afternoons, it is difficult to study for Friday tests or write end-of-the-week papers that you put off too long with a 16-year-old staring at you from across your room. Here are a few ideas to make yourself and your student a little more comfortable on their visit.
- Do your homework before they get here. You know they're coming - you signed up for this.
- Show them things they don't get to see on the tours. Show them where you go when you want to be alone, show them your favorite study room and tell them about that one time your laundry got locked in the washer for a week only to be retrieved an hour before wing retreat. But it all worked out.
- Take them to Chick-fil-A (and pay for their meal)! This is the reason we got it in the first place: to show it off to prospectives. Buy them a drink at the Jumping Bean, since you can't go off-campus to Starbucks, and tell them about all the best drink specials.
- Introduce them to your friends. Having more people around also takes the pressure off you to keep your prospective entertained.
- Take them to the KSAC and play basketball or kick around a soccer ball. Show them what you do on rainy days.
- Ask them about their lives and see what you have in common. Getting to know them will show that Taylor students care about new students.
Being part of a wing or a floor is a community, and staying there for 24 hours can be intimidating. But show them that four years of experience could change their lives forever.
Visiting Taylor for the first, second or even third time can be intimidating. It can be awkward for everyone, but it is even more uncomfortable when the visitor feels their host doesn't want them there. So, get to know them, because they want to know you and this university. That is why they are visiting: they want to see why we love this place so much.
When Admissions is organized, the process of hosting and entertaining a student is smoother, making everyone's lives easier. Admissions CREW memberBryce Peters said, "I think, as opposed to last year, (this year) was a lot more organized. Things moved more naturally."
So, make your student feel at home in this foreign place for 24 hours. Show them how you live and why you chose, above all other options, to live in Upland, at Taylor, for four or more years.
