Caroline Knightly, Senior Editor
@knightlycourant
Throughout the seemingly never-ending college process, students tend to dwell on a specific school. That specific school is known as their dream school for their advanced academic opportunities or their ever-lasting and enticing social life. Some of these “dream schools” tend to be the same school for various students. Seniors Caroline Budd and Paige Freyre share similar views with other members of the NCHS student body as they commit the next four years to Bucknell University and Elon University respectively.
When Paige first started visiting schools, she disregarded the popularity of the university. Instead, she focused on what her personal academic needs were and whether Bucknell would meet them or not. “I had always heard amazing things about Bucknell,” she said. “I fell in love with the school once I visited and just knew it was the right place for me.”
Unlike Paige, Caroline learned about Elon’s reputation through her older brother who currently attends the university. For Caroline, Elon became her top choice due to the various academic opportunities that were provided. “After seeing Elon for the first time, I fell in love with the campus and how happy everyone seemed,” she said. “Elon has a lot to offer including amazing study abroad options and tons of majors, which was a huge deciding factor in picking the school.”
After being accepted to Bucknell University on an Early Decision application, Paige became more aware to the amount of students she will recognize from her very own hometown. “I like the fact I will know a lot of people going to Bucknell,” she said. “I don’t think it will bother me at all because although there are a lot of New Canaan kids at Bucknell, there are still a lot of new people to meet.”
Caroline views attending school with familiar faces as a good thing, as she feels closer to home from seeing them around campus. “I don’t think that being surrounded by kids from NCHS and surrounding towns will bother me next year,” she said. “It actually provides me with more comfort because I know even though I will be far from home, that there will always be kids around me I can relate to.”
Chase Jansen, a class of 2016 graduate, has just started his first year at Texas Christian University (TCU), along with 13 other NCHS students from his class. Like his past classmates, Chase defines TCU as his top choice for many reasons. “TCU had the full package for me, and I saw that when I visited. They had the spirit, football team, greek life, good reputation, and above all an amazingly pretty campus,” he said. “I simply couldn’t not be interested.”
For Chase, being surrounded by students from neighboring towns and even New Canaan serves as a place of comfort and security. “Personally I don’t really mind having a lot of kids from my hometown here at school,” he said. “At times I’ll run into them which can be nice to see a familiar face.”
With the intense transition from New Canaan to Fort Worth, Texas, Chase has been able to bond with his past classmates through his love for TCU. However he was still able to maintain an individual social life. “I think that college is really what you make of it. When I came to TCU, I knew that I wanted to find my own friend group and go my own direction, so I can have my life here at TCU and my life at home in New Canaan.” he said. “It’s all a personal choice.”
