i ' I t,
f f ‘ t
f ’ : l :
2 march 2004
fea tures
Grand-Senior Interviews cont’d
the stentorian | ncssm
Duke University
Esther Hong
Do you like college life?
College so far has been an
experience that I cannot cap
ture in a nutshell. I've had my
ups and my downs, but I do
love college because it stretch
es you and challenges you in
new ways - plus it's a lot of fun
(no check!) I had hard time
adjusting at first. I really
missed NCSSM and the group
of close friends that I had
found there. However, with
time, you learn to slowly build
yourself a new life. In college
there's so much you can do - so
many opportunities, so many
people. I like having more
independence, and having so
many people surroimding you
from whom you can learn a
lot. At the same time, I still do
miss NCSSM a lot and its
good, crazy times.
How did NCSSM prepare
you for Duke?
I feel that NCSSM provid
ed me with a good foundation
academically. Sure, Duke is a
lot harder than NCSSM (to me
at least) - but that's expected,
because it is college. You are
supposed to be challenged.
NCSSM is a rigorous school.
Teachers want you to truly
understand the material, not
just memorize formulas. You
are expected to do a lot of
independent thinking. You are
taught how ta think, not how to
memorize. I find that benefi
cial in college. I don't know
how it is for the other colleges,
but I think that even though
NCSSM didn't make Duke
easy, it definitely made it easi
er.
However, on the flipside
of all that, I found that having
gone to NCSSM made it hard
er for me socially at the begin
ning. I would always compare
everything to NCSSM and I
missed my old friends a lot. I
remembered what it was like
back when the people I lived
with were my closest fnends,
not strangers. Just today I was
talking to one of my fnends
whose older brother actually
Durham, NC
went to NCSSM, and she said
that she thinks everyone from
NCSSM hates college at first.
Though I don't think that
applies to everyone, I think I
found that generally a lot of
people I talked too struggled
initially. I think it just takes
time to settle down in a new
place, leaving the old behind.
In the end. I'm so grateful for
the amazing times and memo
ries from NCSSM - nothing
can compare - but I'm also
happy to be at Duke forming
new experiences.
Do you have any advice
for NCSSM students on how to
take advantage of their time
here?
I think of my big regrets
was not getting to know more
people really well. At NCSSM
you live with 500 amazing and
interesting people. You see
them walking down the
breezeway, in the lovely PFM,
chilling on the senior
bench...on a daily basis. I feel
like I got too eomfortable with
my group of fnends, that I did
n't make as big of an effort to
get to know many other people
beyond the "chit-chat-and-jok-
ing-around" level. However, I
do feel that it is important to
find a group of people who are
important to you, and with
whom you establish tight
friendships. After graduation,
that is definitely what I missed
the most - the people (cliche
but true). There's a balance
you need to strike between not
living in your bubble world of
friends, but also getting to
know a core group of people
really well.
Another one of my regrets
is not making the best of all the
different and unique opportu
nities at NCSSM. Find some
thing that really interests you -
whether it's research in
Astrophysics, or performing at
Koffeehaus - and go with it.
There's so many things that
sehool has to offer. I don't
think I realized that until sen
ior year. Looking back, some
of my most memorable classes
were definitely the unusual
ones. You can get so much out
of the school, if you're willing
to put the time into it. To the
seniors: make the best of the
time you have left. Don't live
for graduation - live for the
time that you have left at
NCSSM - because man, time
flies and graduation will come
soon enough -1 promise. You
have plenty of time to live your
life beyond high school, but
only a couple months to live in
a community that you'll find
nowhere else. Oh - and the
breezeway is the coolest place
ever to work in.
How did you choose
Duke? What played a role in
your decision? Do have any
advice for seniors?
I chose Duke for various
reasons. I really like Duke's
atmosphere compared to some
other schools' I had visited. I
could see myself going to
Duke. I know it is hard, but
when choosing a college base
your decision on concrete
things, not wishy-washy ones
(such as emotions or where all
your other friends are going).
Find what is important to you,
and what you want to get out
of college - see how your
schools match up to these
areas, and weigh them.
Picking a school is a very per
sonal thing, because there is no
"right" school for all. It is
more a matter of seeing which
school matches up best with
your personal needs.
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
Are you enjoying the col
lege life?
Mostly, yes. Drunk room
mates, overenthusiastic fans,
the occasional teacher who
doesn't speak English, and rel
ative lack of social life aside,
it's pretty nice being independ
ent and I'm enjoying my class
es. For those of you consider
ing UNC, at least one random
NCSSM alum is visible in
nearly every crowd and big
lecture class here (may be
good or bad thing to some).
How did NCSSM prepare
you for college?
.The mere fact that I was
away from home for two years
at NCSSM prepared me a
great deal for being away from
home with considerably more
freedom at college. I've dis
covered that I must have
learned some sort of time-
management skills while at
NCSSM (although this wasn't
very apparent to me while I
was there), because now I'm
taking 15 credit-hours and
working 2 part-time jobs and
doing fine as far as grades and
sleep goes. Though, it helps
that it's easier to do well aca
demically here than it was at
NCSSM (due to less daily
assignments and teachers
grading on curves, not neces
sarily because of less challeng
ing or less intellectually stimu
lating coursework). By virtue
of the interesting classes I took
and heard about, NCSSM also
got me interested in many of
the academic subjects I intend
to pursue in college.
Do you have any advice
for NCSSM students?
Utilize as many of the
intellectual, social, and cre
ative opportunities at NCSSM
that you can without burning
yourself out. If you're taking
hard classes, don't let yourself
fall into the vicious cycle of
sleep deprivation, sickness,
absences, and poor grades.
Find somebody you can talk to
if you ever should need
help/advice, and always have
some way to have fun and
relax and simply enjoy being
in the company of talented
nerds. Avoid decisions you'll
regret, and understand the pos
sible consequences of the ones
you won't. Try to find an
activity or interest you love at
NCSSM, and you'll find ample
opportunities to pursue it fur
ther at just about any college
you end up going to. Don't
become apathetic about the
sehool“if you want to see
reform or disagree with the
administration, find an effec
tive way to get your views
across.
What advice do you have
for seniors deciding on col
lege?
Choosing my college was
made a great deal easier by the
fact that i applied to only 5
schools, and got into only 2 of
them (UNC and Warren-
Wilson College in Asheville).
Warren-Wilson was elimftiated
from my list after much delib
eration because I was hesitant
to go to a school with a lower
class (that is, grade level) size
than NCSSM. Thus UNC.
My advice to juniors is to
apply to as many colleges as
you are seriously interested in
(and your parents - and your
sanity will allow),and visit
everywhere you apply.
Seniors deciding should com
pare each of the sehools
they've gotten into on as many
relevant areas of academies,
student life, etc as possible.
Making a list might help. If
you haven't visited places, try
to visit them or at least talk to
somebody (maybe a Seience
and Math alum?) who went
there. Maybe discuss your
options with other seniors who
might be facing the same prob
lem and see if they have any
insights or advice. Try to think
where you would be the happi
est overall, and listen to any
gut feelings you have. Don't
stress out too much—there's
always the option of transfer
ring, and if a college was inter
esting enough for you to apply
to it, you'll probably be at least
somewhat happy there.
DUKE
CAROLINA
Duk« Stadium
The rivalry between
UNC-CH and Duke is
arguably the most noted in
college sports. Many
S&Mmers choose to attend
one of the two competing
teams, while still remaining
faithful to their NCSSM her
itage.