October 2011
fea tures/opinion
the stentorian \ ncssm
Seniors stress about college applications
By: Caroline deSaussure
With the start of the rest of
our lives looming ahead, it is
hard to remain calm about the
college application process.
The stress of standardized tests,
transcripts, essays, teacher
recommendations, maintaining
good grades, and interviews
has proven to be too much for
many SMathers to handle.
After a long day at school
and an even longer night of
work, sometimes it’s nice
to take a break and get on
Facebook. But wait! I’ve come
to a stop on my newsfeed at
the classic, “just finished all
of my college applications!”
status. Don’t get me wrong,
I wish I was you. But there’s
no need to advertise and brag
that you’re ahead of the rest
of the NCSSM student body.
Some may argue that this type
of peer pressure and jealousy
will be motivation to get your
own essays written, but I think
that it stresses out students
unnecessarily.
Senior Vivian Chen says,
“I hate it. It makes me feel
super discouraged and subpar
compared to the rest of my
peers.”
How do some people have
time to apply to college? With
extracurriculars, research,
athletics, academics, and
a massive college to-do
list, I now understand how
some people manage to pull
consecutive all-nighters. These
superstars seem to have their
lives together: pulling off good
grades, getting everything
done, and managing to have a
social life.
Cross country nmner
Adele Bernard said, “With a
leadership position, a sport,
teaching a seminar, and running
three clubs, getting college
apps and homework done is
quite the chore. My room is
a mess, but my deadlines are
fulfilled because I prioritize”
Other students facing more
serious cases of senioritis
than the average diagnosis
procrastinate to no end. The
m
Seniors stressed abou their college application deadlines
Courtesy of Samantha Hartsoe
weekend of Oct. 14 proved to
be nerve-wracking for many
stragglers who decided to save
the entire UNC app for one
night.
Senior Debanjali Kundu,
“Even though I wrote common
app essay in less than an hour,
I felt really accomplished
when I got it done and I felt
my stress disappear when I
pressed submit.”
Most undergraduate
admissions officers share
that the essays are the
most important part of an
application. We are told
to make ourselves, “step
out of the paper” and to
really paint a picture of
who we are. However, most
teenagers, especially at
this school, are emotional,
confused, occasionally
lazy, and often struggle to
discover the importance
of all of the work we do.
How is it possible to show
who you are to a group of
strangers when you hardly
know what makes you you?
Although having
someone read over your
essays is beneficial,
throwing them at all of your
peers is a bit excessive.
Continued on page 5
Exams conflict withlO"''"® courses enrich
holiday spirit
NCSSM experience
i
By Joy Hill
Halloween is right around
the comer, but many students
aren’t in the holiday spirit. This
is most likely due to what else
is fast approaching - Trimester
Exams. Unfortunately for us,
Halloween falls on a Monday
this year, as do the Chemistry,
Physics, and Humanities/
Interdisciplinary Electives
exams.
Although
the exams do
conflict with
the holiday,
our school
does host a
Halloween
dance, and
everyone is
encouraged
to dress up.
When Senior
Rebekah
Wells was
asked about
last year’s
dance, she
responded
with “The
dance was
a lot of fun,
although I ^
only stayed Courtesy of Sidney
for half of it because I was
busy studying.” I agree with
this, as I remember skipping
out on last year’s Masquerade
Mixer to study for my Saturday
Physics exam.
In addition to the dance, on
the afternoon of the Thursday
before exams begin teachers
and staff handed out candy
to (hopefully dressed up)
students. This is so we all
can experience the classic
Halloween pastime, trick-
or-treating! Senior Evan
Scarborough reflected on last
year’s trick-or-treating, and
commented “ft was nice of
the teachers to participate in
student activities.”
While we do have the
thinks she’ll be “too busy
studying to even think about
Halloween,” even with the
activities taking place on the
weekend.
Is this situation unfair? I
think so, but not unfair in the
sense that the school is trying
to take away our ftm. So, what
can be done to resolve this
issue? Nothing, really. Exams
i>5*
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V
h
Parham
Halloween dance and after
school trick-or-treating, we
all know it isn’t the same
as dressing up with friends
and walking around the
neighborhood on Halloween
night. I can bet half of the
student body skips these
activities anyway to study for
their exams. Junior Katie Cater
have to happen at the end of
the trimester, which always
occurs at the end of October.
Halloween will always be on
October 31st. NCSSM will
continue to have the variety of
Halloween Student Activities,
which are great, but NCSSM
will never have that authentic
Halloween “feel”.
By Jaret Dawson
NCSSM online courses are
a somewhat popular choice
among residential students. A
small portion of the NCSSM
Online program is open to
NCSSM residential students,
including such courses as
Computational or Medicinal
Chemistry. AP Physics B Web
is taught as an online course,
with a classroom component.
Online classes expose
residential students to the same
material as residential classes.
As teacher Robert Gotwals
said, “I’ve not seen a whole lot
of difference between material
that is taught in an online class
as opposed, to a residential
course.” He added that, in
his computational courses,
“My students interact with
the computers the same way
whether the class is residential
or online.”
Online courses force stu
dents to be more self-motivat
ed in asking for help. Gotw
als said that “Students need to
be more aggressive and vocal
about needing help. I can look
at a student in a face-to-face
course and tell that they aren’t
doing so well. I can’t do that
as well in an online course.”
Junior Patrick McKeen, a
senior currently AP Physics B
class, says that both the online
and residential aspects “have
their pros tmd cons.” McKeen
said, “It’s a lot more open, you
can do [homework] when you
have the time to do it. Certain
parts I could only get from
a teacher, but for the work I
prefer the online course.”
Other students prefer
a traditional classroom
environment. Senior Xilin Liu,
who is taking Computational
Chemistry, said, “I think a
classroom setting is better
since you have a closer
relationship to teachers and
classmates, plus it’s usually
more hands-on!” The lack of
relationship between teacher
and student can make it hard
for those enrolled in online
classes to seek help.
Another problem for
residential students is online
weekends. Those enrolled in
an online course must stay to
attend the class held on campus
during extended weekends. Liu
said, “It’s worse for residential
students, since we lose the
break we were supposed to
have.” He also said, “It’s not
too big of a problem, it’s only
like twice and meeting with the
teacher is necessary.”
McKeen also said that
“it’s disconcerting to have an
assignment due not in class.
At the same time, “it allows
you to work outside of class.
McKeen said that he would
probably enroll in other
combination online-classroom
courses if they were offered in
subjects such as chemistry. Liu,
on the other hand, said, “I also
think that more online classes
should be offered as residential
classes.” At the same time, he
would consider taking “some
elective classes” online, while
he would rather have a teacher
for “really important ones
like... AP classes or a senior
English.”