Life after East

Grads share experience with seniors

The Cranston Herald ·

In the early morning hours of the day before Thanksgiving, rather than sleeping in their beds at home, students from Cranston East’s 2016 graduating class returned to the Media Center to pass along some sage advice to the seniors who will soon be in their shoes.

“We appreciate you getting up in the morning to share your experiences so far as to what's working, what's not working and what you like or dislike about college so far.” said guidance counselor Rick Gebhart. “If you could turn the clock back six months or a year, what would you do differently?”

Gebhart had the 43 returning students separated into small groups by school and by state. The students are in colleges from New York to Maine. They spoke to two senior groups, with half the 43 speaking to the first hour’s group and half of them speaking to the second hour’s group.

A large group of freshmen from the University of Rhode Island spoke during the event. Lorraine Guerra was happy with her choice of attending a large university. As a theater and communication major, she found the school to have many opportunities for getting involved.

“There's something for everyone,” she said. “There are lots of clubs and organizations, over 100 to choose from. The food isn't great, but that's not just URI, that's everywhere. There is nothing like Mom's food.”

Guerra was encouraging. “Follow your dreams,” she said. “Go for it and figure it out when you get there. Whatever you wake up thinking about, go for that. Apply to every school. Just go for it and even if you're rejected, it's okay.”

Danielle Abatiello saw the large size of the University as both a positive and a negative. She agreed with Guerra about the abundance of resources and advising, as well as extra curricular activities. However, the large size had a downside in Abatiello's opinion. “It's so big that it's impersonal,” she said. “Some of the gen ed [general education requirements] classes are huge.”

Abatiello left the students with some advice that was repeated one student after the next, throughout both speaking sessions.

“Apply for scholarships. Apply for all of them. I used a $500 scholarship to pay for books,” she said. “And when you're applying to schools, only look at the money after you get your financial aid packages and scholarships.”

As a URI commuter student, Saiya Chik was to save money, but said that sometimes she misses out on events, or faces a late drive home after her nursing classes end.

“I don't enjoy commuting because I have a big gap of time between my morning class and my later classes so I stay in my friend's room between classes.”

When Chik considered one thing she wished she could change from senior year, she said, “I wish I took the AP exam for my statistics class because now I am taking statistics as a gen ed. If you take AP classes, take the exams. If you can get credits done for college in high school with EEP classes, then do it. Get those credits done.”

Scheduling around early morning classes was another common thread among all the students. Known as "8ams," the 8:00 a.m. classes were by far the least liked classes in their schedules. “I don't have any 8ams, I have 10ams and 9:30s and I still find it hard to get up,” said Jeanette Chin. “I like that I can choose any class I want and I can spread it out however I want as long as I graduate.”

Chin didn't love the hilly geography at URI, with the dorms located at the bottom of the campus, and the classes at the top of the hill.

“You have to walk up and down all the hills several times a day” she said. She noted that she lived in Browning Hall, the biggest of the freshmen dorms, and yet her triple room was still tight, a common complaint from many of the students at many schools. “It would be small even with two people,” she said. “It gets messy.” Carissa Iacobucci, an education and history double major at URI remembers sitting where the seniors now sat before her.

“I remember vividly what it was like that November,” she said. “I was stressed out. I was taking SATs and filling out my college applications. URI was not my first choice, and I wanted to be out of Rhode Island altogether, but I thought of my finances and I chose URI. Now though, I can't think of being anywhere else. I love URI, I love my roommates and I love that it's different from high school.”

Cheyenne Tillison agreed.

“Don't count URI out just because it's in-state. It was the best option for me. It's 40 minutes away, so it's close enough to come back but comfortable enough to be away from home,” she said. “It's so big, I don't see everyone from high school there. I don't even see the same people twice a day, I'm meeting new people all the time.”

Tillison had just one regret to share with the seniors.

“I wish I'd worked way harder," she said. "I wish I had been involved more in high school because it really makes a difference on your applications.”

Hindsight is something Ryan Raposo wishes he had the benefit of during his high school years. He said the transition to being an independent young adult in a large college setting has been admittedly difficult, something he is still working at.

“I really miss high school,” he said. “Don't underestimate how much you'll miss it. There's so much responsibility, there's new people and a new environment. I miss my high school friends and I don't really enjoy living on campus. I want to commute next semester. If I could give you any advice, I'd say enjoy your time here, apply for every scholarship. I didn't do any and I'm in a really bad position now. It's not fine, and it's a really big deal.”

The students at Rhode Island College discovered that a good education with a lower price tag is worth it.

“They say to you not to look at the price tag, but I looked at the price tag,” said Michael Goldberger. “Rhode Island College is cheap. College is a lot of time and a lot of money, but no one is forcing you to go. It's a waste of time and money if you don't want to go.”

Julitza Ovalle, another commuter student, reminded the students that the transition is tough.

“At the start, you go in with a high school mentality, like expecting teachers to ask you for your assignments,” she said. “I started slacking and missing classes because I wasn't interested in them at all and it was hard to balance school and outside of school. Choose your classes wisely. If you're struggling, get help, and don't let anyone tell you no.”

For Latarra Harris, attending Curry College, a small private school in Milton, MA, has given her the experience of being out of state, but not too far away from home.

“I'm going to school for Criminal Justice,” she said. “I like the small school atmosphere. I like the one on one with the teachers, and I only have about 10 students in my classes. It's a small setting and my biggest classes might have 20 students in them.”

That said, being at a smaller school can mean less options, according to Harris.

“It's kind of quiet on the weekends, there's not much to do,” she said. "My advice is to be involved. Meet people. Meet your roommates ahead of time and do not do a random roommate selection. This is my second roommate. This is also my second key, and the keys cost $250 so don't lose your key either.” She reminded the seniors to stay focused on their work, even though good times might come calling.

“Do not go out if you have work to do,” she said. “You don't want to have to be up at 4 a.m. because you went out in Boston instead.”

Noelle Bisignano believes that a small school and a great location are key to her success.

"There are 636 people in my class (at Emmanuel College in Boston) and I'm a five minute walk from Fenway,” she said. “I love going to a small school. The biggest class might have 30 people, the smallest has nine. You get to know the people and the professors. It's really very personal at Emmanuel, and the food is really good.”

Single sex schools are an option that Hui Ying Huang says should not be overlooked. A freshman at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., an all-girls school, Huang is having a great experience as an engineering student with a minor in Chinese.

“It's very diverse and you get to have interactions with lots of different people. I am on the volleyball team and the setter is from Chile,” she said. “What I don't enjoy is the fact that there are no boys, but the best thing is there is a five-college consortium and you can take classes at lots of different universities in the area. I will be taking some classes at UMass Amherst.”

Huang says the price tag is important when looking at schools.

“Look at your financial aid package, and then look past that at your expenses,” she said. “Books are expensive, transportation from school to home is expensive, whether you take the train or a plane. You need petty cash for things like going out with friends or teammates, or for buying snow boots.”

She advised looking closely at the college programs at a school of choice.

“I was between Smith and Northeastern during my senior year. One was a small women's Ivy school and it had so many programs and an open curriculum, so I could major with or without a minor,” she said. “I looked at the sports programs. I looked at whether they were a school with team sports or just club or intramural sports teams. I talked to the athletic advisor about tryouts and recruiting. Look at every aspect of the schools you're considering.”

At Emerson, Talia Santopadre is a writing, literature and publishing major. She talked about going to school in the heart of Boston on city streets versus a traditional college campus.

“The buildings are spread around two city blocks, so it's not a campus,” she said “For me, it was not what I was looking for and I was not open to going to a city school until I got there, but I enjoy it. I like the amount of people you meet, and all the different types of people you meet. My best friend is from Japan. I've learned so much already about other cultures.”

Santopadre doesn't love the fact that the school buildings are somewhat separated throughout the city.

“It's cold and it's ten minutes from one building to another," she said. "It gets windy.”

She encouraged the seniors not to count out their dreams when looking at schools. ”Emerson was my dream school,” she said. “When I got my financial aid package, it still wasn't enough. I fought for another scholarship and I got one. I fought for more financial aid, and I got it. I work really hard, so where I am is really important. I wouldn't do as well anywhere else.”

Price reminded the students to enjoy the time they have in high school while they have it.

“You're only here for four years and you've already used up most of the time you have,” she said. “Don't waste this time, enjoy your friends.”

Jahaziel Zapata has roommates from abroad and from faraway states as well, and likes the diversity the Berklee College of Music in Boston provides.

“My two roommates are from Korea and Georgia, and I really like that,” he said.

Messy roommates is an issue for him as well, though.

“You don't realize how clean you are until you have a roommate who is so messy,” he said. “I'm about to kick his clothes onto the floor in the hallway.” Although there are no sports teams at Berklee, Zapata said playing sports at a music school is still possible. ”We can play sports at other schools nearby like Emerson,” he said.

Time management has been one of his biggest struggles.

“I didn't know how much of a procrastinator I was,” he said. “I wish I knew how much time a day takes. You have five hours of classes, but there is other work and it's keeping up with that and getting it all done that's hard.”

Tracy Edwards, a student at the University of Southern Maine, passed along some great she wished she’d followed. “Someone once told me to do one scholarship application a day, like you would do your homework,” she said. “I wish I'd done that.”

Enrolled in the school's Health Science and Occupational Therapy programs, Edwards likes the three campuses that the school has, as well as the distance from home.

"It's only three hours from home, so it's a good amount of space," she said.

Loving absolutely everything about school made it easier for Max DiMauro to speak about Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hamphire.

“I can't say anything bad about it,” he said. “I love everything about it. I love the food, I love both my roommates, it's cold, it's beautiful.”

He recommended that the students make friends on their school's Facebook page, and join the group chats there as a way of getting to know people in advance of arriving on campus.

“That's how I got one of my roommates,” he said.

Keenan Nunleavy, an undeclared student at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH, cautioned against becoming too close to those you meet on social media before meeting in person, however.

“Don't befriend the first people you meet on Snap Chat and Instagram because now you're stuck. Make sure you meet them and that they're good people.”

Dunleavy's other advice was based on experience.

“Make sure you have good time management. No one is holding your hand, you're on your own. It can be a good thing or it can be a bad thing and you can flunk out. Set alarms, clean your room, you don't want to be that filthy roommate. Look at all the school's programs. Look beyond the dorms and the showers. Look at academics. Look at all of the programs because the program you end up being interested in might not be as in-depth as you want it to be. Choose the school that's for you, not for your friends. Don't compromise in order to extend your high school years into college. See who you are, because this is not for them.”

Cynthia Gatua passed along to the students, said she’s struggled a bit with staying healthy in the months since starting school at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.

“I wished I'd known that I'd get sick all the time,” she said. “People get sick around the Four O'Clocks, which is what our midterms are called. I got really sick then and there is no one at home, no soup. You're going to miss classes and deadlines and the professors don't really care, so do everything you can to stay healthy, and don't get sick.”

Zanabou Njie talked to the students about taking a risk and exploring schools you might not know you're interested in.

“I applied to 12 different schools,” Njie said. “I was really indecisive and I had a lot of reach schools. Even my safeties were still hard to get into. I had never heard of Goucher and it has a 56 percent acceptance rate, so that was a risk, and it's also a risk school because of the location in Towson, Maryland. I was between Goucher and Salve, and I visited Goucher and fell in love. Salve is not diverse at all, and I would've hated it there. Goucher is a small liberal arts college and it fit everything I needed. I do get a little homesick because a lot of people are from Maryland and New York, so they can go home easily but I can't because it's eight hours away.”

Njie reminded the students to take advantage of their college opportunities.

“You're paying a lot to go to college,” Njie said. “Apply for lots of scholarships. My college cost $60,000 a year to go and I am paying only $11,000.”

Enrolled at the Community College of Rhode Island's Lincoln campus, Stephanie Nunez encouraged students to consider community college, and to take full advantage of the resources they have at Cranston East.

“People say it's not a real college, but it's so good because my GPA is high. I'm getting 30 percent off tuition when I transfer to URI,” she said. “You've heard a lot of good advice today. A year ago, I was sitting in your position and I didn't have good time management skills. I had a very victim mindset, I didn't do the things I should've done. You need to have accountability, you need to be focused. You have good staff and resources here at East, and Cranston East perpetuates success after high school. Work to your full potential.”