Hark! They Approach! Prospective Students are Welcomed to Conn for Open House

These past few weeks, our campus has been overwhelmed by flocks of prospective students. We see new faces appearing in our classes, and we watch enviously as they casually leave at will. As we walk to class we find ourselves being suddenly engulfed by tour groups on all sides. Without fail, each time we attempt to leave through the front door of Blaustein, we are accosted by groups stopping to see the “money shot” from the highest point on campus, where the glory of all the new fences and the distant, watery line of the sound can be appreciated most fully.
This past Monday was one of the Office of Admission’s biggest events of the year: Open House for Accepted Students. Students and parents are given the opportunity not only to ask questions about college life, residential living, classes and study abroad opportunities, but also to appreciate the beauty of our campus. The event takes approximately three to four months to plan and involves a variety of different offices, including the Office of College Relations.
“We start by trying to decide what the ‘take home’ message of the day should be and what we want to show new families. As we move through the planning process there are a lot of moving parts and perspectives of different offices to take into account,” said Liz Noonan ’12, the Student Coordinator of the Admissions Office.
My day began with a morning run alongside President Higdon. The rain was starting to come down as I approached the scheduled starting point at Horizon House, and I worried that I had missed the 7:30 AM starting time. Suddenly, I heard “Coming up on your right!” from behind, and a moment later Big Hig was spryly jogging alongside me.  When we arrived, he joked with a few members of the cross-country team that would be joining the half-hour run around campus. A few bleary-eyed prospies approached Higdon shyly, unsure of how formally they should address the man who would hopefully be signing their future college diploma, while he was wearing gym shorts and running spandex. It occurred to me that this was a rare experience to have with such an esteemed member of our community. In the university town I grew up in, seeing the President among the masses was a rare occurrence.
Later that morning was the welcome speech in Evans Hall. For the weak of heart whom had opted out of running in the freezing rain, this was the first event of the day. Despite their evident exhaustion, there was a feeling of anticipation as parents began their thread of commentary that would, inevitably, last all day and would concern anything from the coffee they held in that moment, to the quality of the future panels. Students flipped through the agenda for the day with a muted curiosity. Each person in the room seemed to be sizing everyone up, trying to decide who might become a friend in the next few months.
Dean of Admissions Martha Merrill gave the welcoming speech. As she spoke, I was suddenly reminded of the fact that, a year ago, I had been sitting in the same seat listening to an identical speech. Now I was there again, not as a student trying desperately to make a decision while being told my class was “one of the most impressive to date” but as an outside observer who had the distance of having made my choice. The welcome speech was given in part by two students. The first student, freshman Telayah Sturdivant focused on the theme of expected and unexpected change that comes along with the transition to college. I became hyper-aware of how I had grown as I sat amongst peers who had yet to embark on their journey of change.
There were several other seminars and panels wherein parents and students were given the opportunity to ask about different elements of the school. Some of the panels were intended for the general student body, such as “Going Global,” a discussion of study abroad options, “Internships: More Than Just a Summer Job”, which gave information about CELS, an info session on the various Academic Centers and an Academic Fair where students could learn about our forty-three majors. There were more focused forums as well for more specific interests such as theatre, dance, athletics and the sciences. The trend in each of these was that despite the chatty parents, few of the students dared to ask any questions. Many of them sat completely overwhelmed at all the information being thrown at them.
One of the most interesting panels was “Meet a Student,” an event intended only for prospective students. Without their parents around to ask the “responsible” questions about tuition and internships, students were able to ask questions about general life on campus without the risk of giving their poor parents heart attacks.
As of now, approximately half of the incoming class has responded with their intentions of attending Conn in the fall. Though parents often dominated the conversations in the events, each of the prospective students I spoke to felt similarly. “Everyone seems so nice here! I feel like this is really a place to discover what you want to do in life,” said Helena, an incoming student from New York who intends to major in theater. This was the exact feeling I had initially about the school as well.
Nearly the end of my first year at Conn, I can honestly say nothing has changed. Through all of the panels, I was reminded of exactly how many opportunities this school has to offer. Yes, it’s true that Harris food gets old fast after the first few weeks, class registration can be the most hellish experience of the year and our housing system can be called rocky at best, but despite these minor pitfalls, my excitement for the next three years is renewed. I feel once again like a brand new student. •