Q & A about living in the residence halls. Page 2 Learn a new language Noiiarch or a new culture. Page 3 Attend career center workshops and be prepared for that job search! Page 6 Fayetteville, N€ Vol. XXXIX, No. 10 Special Orientation Carrie Adcox Editor-in-Chief My first year of col lege was an experience I will never forget. My friends and I ate Taco Bell and Pizza Hut in college algebra. We skipped psychology on a daily basis for fresh coffee at a local coffee shop. I never went to class. But 1 thought 1 had a good reason. I was hang ing out. I was real cool. Until something happened. 1 started thinking about the college I was at tending. 1 saw drug deals go down. 1 saw colors, gang colors. Teachers knew me by my social se curity number, not my name. 1 was threatened in class by other students. After being sexually as saulted after class on night, I knew something had to . change. I transferred to Methodist on the advice of my parents and my boy friend. I noticed an immedi ate difference my first year at MC. The professors knew my name. When I saw Why I Chose Methodist in the halls, they college), some things don't I’m sure it wc them in the halls, they would ask how everything was going. They genuinely seemed to care. I felt safe again. Then, I got involved in different programs. My first year at Methodist, I participated with Rainbow’s End - the scholarship vocal en semble. 1 performed with show choir. Most impor tantly, I made friends with anyone who would talk to me. After an intensive first year at MC, I relaxed for a while. Several times, I changed my major (five times to be exact) and landed in the English De partment. Now as a senior, I am the editor-in-chief of the newspaper. That would have never happened at another college. I’m not even a journalism major. Yet, I was given chances that I would have never received at another college. For example, how many college’s would have allowed me to repre sent them at a newspaper convention in San Fran- Student Media Events coming this Fall! Positions being filled for the Afonarcii Messenger 'staff team, the Citrillon staff team, and the Student' Photography Team! Work study positions available! We wiU be attending the National Student Media Conference in New Orleans!! le will be inducting students into the first chapterl jofSociety for Collegiate Journalists!! Membership requires that you belong to a Student Media team or are a communications major. Call 630-7292 for more information! college), some things don’t matter any more. At twenty-two, I have little concern for drinking or partying every night. I want to take advantage of every situation to make it easier for me in the future. I’m sure it won’t matter in ten years from now that President Hendricks or Dean Blanc asked me how things were going every time they saw me. But that means a lot to me now. I hope a great fresh- man/first year for every one. If you see me on cam pus, say hi. I usually know close to everything that’s going on in case you get bored. Not All Colleges Are Alike Photo by Jami Sheppard Adcox winning musical chairs. cisco? Not many. Plus, they helped me pay for the trip. On this campus, you will find opportunities at every comer whether it is a convention, a trip, or a chance. These things don’t happen at larger col lege. Smaller campuses allow students to gain ex periences that they else where might have been over looked. Methodist has also reminded me how to have fun while I grow up. MC Late Night Ex press has helped me learn to relax a little. I won a lollipop at musical chairs last year. As you get older (I’m in my fifth year of George Blanc Vice President for Student Life There was a time when an average college student and their family would spend more time finding the right “used, but reliable’’ automobile for college, than the time they would spend choosing the college the student would attend. Higher education has never been more com petitive. Choosing the right college has never been harder. Today’s college bound students and fami lies are doing their home work. Many parents know more about candidate col leges they have never seen and may never visit, than they know about the col lege they attended. Comparative shop ping is the order of the day. Everyone is looking for the best college at the best price or at the best dis count. The more you page through a big city-like phone book sized guide to colleges or through hun dreds of websites, the more colleges look alike. Carefully selected photographs depict beau tifully manicured cam puses filled with students who could not look hap pier to be there. So, how do you find the best college? If they are all wonderful, which one is best for you? Many times the most important aspects of a college or university are factors that cannot be mea sured in square footage or in dollars and cents. Experience shows choosing the right college requires you spend as much time examining the intangibles of an institu tion as you spend measur ing the tangibles. Some of the intan gibles that should be con sidered in your decision making process include: a sense of community, aca demic climate, personal safety, professional com mitment, academic excel lence, caring profession als, approachable faculty, supportive staff, develop mental student activities, a truly personal education, first name relationships, and a Christian based edu cational experience. These qualities can make a real difference in the quality of your college experience. The Student Life motto at Methodist Col lege can also be defined as a set of intangibles: “To Serve and To Develop,” We see our role as one which, complements the academic mission of the college by providing our students with a mean ingful and supportive en vironment outside the classroom. This not only serves your particular needs, but also provides you with op- portunities to continue your “whole person” de velopment. On the average, a college student will spend Blanc. 20 to 30 hours of every week in a classroom and in some form of dedicated study. This leaves the stu dent with approximately 140 hours weekly to spend in some other endeavor. This is where Student Life comes into play. Our dedicated team of student affairs profes sionals developed a myriad of programs and activities. Each of these specifically designed to provide our students with the opportunity to maxi mize their college experi ence through personal growth and development. For many, college provides the last opportu nity to prepare for the kind of life you want for your self Our responsibility at Student Life is to do all that we can to support and op timize your preparation. This is Job #1 for us: “To Serve and To Develop.” I encourage all to visit us at Student Life and see what we offer. I believe that you will like what you see and recognize that in tangibles do make differ ence and that all colleges are not alike.