VOLUME XVII, NUMBER 1 2 N.C. WESLEYAN COLLEGE. ROCKY MOUNT, N.C MONDAY. NOVEMBER 20. 1978 GROW UP FIRST Ira® ^vv f V** ** ■^'^i *ji^i-- * V HOMECOMING 1978 by Gina Keating by Angie Ruffin Going off to college sounds exciting. Many people consider it a very vital part of growing up; but in order to survive at college, one must have undergone much of the growing process already. I was just as excited about college as anybody could be, yet when I got there I found that I had forgotten some very important basics. I realized that I had to come home and start over again. All my life I have lived in Rocky Mount. I don’t have any older brothers or sisters in college, so N.C. Wesleyan has been my idea of what a college is. I could not com prehend a campus so large that one couldn’t see from one end to the other. I attended a very small high school where it was easy for everyone to take an active part in school life. It was very hard for me to imagine going to the same school with another person and not really knowing them. At West Edgecombe, everybody knows everybody. All through high school I had taken college prep courses, but it was during my senior year that I began to make definite plans about college. I applied to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was ac cepted. I was very excited. The months seemed to drag by and I began to think graduation day would never come. After graduation I began to make the final arrangements. The summer seemed to be gone before it even got started and soon it was time to be at school. Upon my arrival at Carolina, I was nothing short of speechless. My dorm seemed almost like a hospital, it was so big. There were ten stories towering into the air, and people seemed to be running out the windows. Trying to find my way around the campus proved a bad joke. I felt like someone had taken me to a completely different world. After my parents left I was still excited, but fear was creeping in. It was hard for me to believe that in a few minutes I would be a part of this world. There were so many meetings and everything was so confusing. As long as I was busy things went smoothly, but when I took time to look around I got more frightened. It was while I was looking around that I began to see things as they really were. I saw how in my past life I had such a dependence on my parents that now I couldn’t survive alone. My mother had always been there to wash my clothes, cook my meals, and mainly to listen when I needed to talk. My father was always there to help with my school work. Now I was all alone and I was being very childish. Three days were all I could stand, and I know that 1 didn’t really give it a chance. Before I went to even the first class, I called home. While everyone else was going to their first day of classes., I was busy withdrawing from school. Then I applied to Wesleyan and was accepted. Here I have been able to take more of the courses that I like and things are really going well. I knew I had acted like a big baby. I just hadn’t really grown up enough to leave home. It may seem that coming home only made my dependence on my parents much greater, thus stunting my growth process. This is not true because by being at Wesleyan I am still away from home, but not too far. HOMECOMING—WOW! What a week. Starting the week off was the bonfire and pep rally, sponsored by the cheerleaders. Thursday was highlighted by a pie throw, and some of the most sought after participants included Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Garlow. Later that evening there was a candlelight dinner held in the cafeteria. Alpha Delta Chi hosted a “pig- pickin” Friday night which really got the weekend into the swing!!! Saturday was the really big day! The Homecoming soccer game was played against Averett College, and it started at 2 p.m. Besides the soccer game that afternoon, Wesleyan’s first Open House weekend got under way. Later that night there was a cocktail party given by the Sigma Phi Delta sorority for invited guests. The highlight of Homecoming week was the dance. This year’s theme was “Tonight’s The Night.” The dance was held from nine o’clock until one o’clock that morning, at the Rocky Mount Shrine Club, and the band was “Tiffany.” The Homecoming nominees and their escorts were introduced during the dance. These girls included Cathy Brown, freshmen class; Paige Brown, sophomore class; Madeline Alston, junior class; Linda Braswell, senior class; Carol Houston, Black Student Alliance; Anna Alston, bicycle club; Kim Edwards, North Dorm; and Connie Sanborn, Nu Gamma Phi. Connie was named the W78-79 Homecoming Queen, and Carrol Houston was the runner-up. Jenny Schaden, last year’s queen presented Connie with the crown, and a bouquet of roses. Each of the other representatives recieved a single stem rose. Most students spent Sunday recuperating, and Open House continued from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. that afternoon. Overall, Homecoming was a giant success, and seemed to be enjoyed by all. Are We Secure ? by Robin Coller Fire! That is exactly what you are supposed to yell when you are being beat up, at tacked, mugged. It seems that yelling “HELP” scares people, away. Who hasn’t heard the infamous words, “I didn’t want to get involved?” But even yelling “FIRE” on this campus isn’t going to bring help. There is not an ablebodied security guard within ten miles of this school, and even if there was he would never be able to locate someone in trouble because of the inadequate lighting. Many people have laughed at the idea of being attacked on this campus. They think, “Ah, it will never happen to me.” Well, it can happen and it has happened to a number of people, mainly girls, within the last two years. And that is nothing to laugh about. A prowler was spotted on campus a few weeks ago, and the girls at North Hall and Edgecombe Hall were in structed to be on the lookout for strangers. North Hall has been broken into, and screens have been cut from the win dows. So that brings up the next question... Just who are we supposed to notify at 11:00 p.m. when we see a stranger prowling around campus? What is it going to take before something is done to prevent these incidents from reoccuring? As students of NCWC we can not leave this campus, and go home at night. We live here!!! And we are entitled to an adequate security system. This college is sand wiched between a major high way, and many backroads, and unless a 15 -foot barricade with armed guards and search lights is placed around the campus, it is going to be impossible to protect everyone all the time. And that is slightly unrealistic. However, adequate lighting, and capable security guards are the very least that should be expected. In any event, action should be taken to ensure the safety of the students, and the time is now!!!!!!! UP IN S M 0 KE - I N SI DE y,

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