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August 31, 2006
Share the Vision
The school year has begun and the campus is alive with a flurry of activities and events. Last week, as part of our Welcome Days program for first year students, I attended Case’s Share the Vision assembly. 
The program brought together Case administrators, faculty and staff as well as the entire Class of 2010. This gathering served a few roles one of which was to frame the messages from the class’s common reading for the summer—The Soul of a Chef—which was the focus of over fifteen breakout sessions immediately following the program.
The program included remarks by Dr. Eastwood, Mano Singham and Michael Symon (a local—and nationally known—chef that the book focuses upon).
Share the Vision opened with a welcome from Liz Woyczynski, director of undergraduate admission, that highlighted many aspects of our over 1000-member class.
Here are a few things she shared:
• Students hail from 41 states—from Alaska to the great state of Maine—and seven foreign lands
• Over 500 different high schools
• One student founded, in high school, a non-profit organization that collects gently used video games/consoles for donation to foster families
• A member of the class has studied and competed in bagpipes and played at community events in his hometown
• One student took an immersion trip to Russia in order to add Russian to her list of languages learned and spoken
Posted by jbg15 at 10:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 29, 2006
Who cares about SATs?
It's been a long time - nearly 20 years - since I took the SAT (yikes, I'm getting OLD!) but I still remember how nervous I was before the test.
The test itself is a blur now. I basically recall only one thing about it: a very boring reading passage about the moon. I do remember my feelings afterward, though, when I walked home after the test, mulling over questions I was unsure about and pondering my future. For weeks after the test, my AP classes were a-buzz with everyone talking about SATs, ACTs and colleges they were applying to. It was an anxious time, for sure.
How do YOU feel about the SAT and ACT? Do you feel enormous pressure to perform well on these tests? How many times have you taken it?
Posted by lac20 at 04:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 21, 2006
Case Explores
I have spoken about my experiences of moving to, and now living in, Cleveland before in this blog. Today I was able to delve deeper into the city and earn a new appreciation for the city I now call home.
As part of our Case Ventures, two and a half day excursions for first year students, I, along with four returning upperclassmen, were able to lead 20 new Case students through their first day of getting to know Cleveland as part of our Case Explores venture.
Today’s main event was an extensive walking tour of downcity. We started on campus and took the Rapid to Tower City Center. Beyond getting our students comfortable with one another we want them to be comfortable exploring Cleveland beyond University Circle—this includes Greater Cleveland’s public transportation system.
At Tower City Center (aka Terminal Tower) we were met by Karl our tour guide from Walking Tours of Cleaveland. Karl proved to hold as much knowledge in Cleveland’s history as the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland holds in cash.
I think that this tour would be valuable to life-long residents of the region, not just new comers.
We also visited the West Side Market for lunch and had dinner at Fat Fish Blue downcity.
Day two will have us out and about again. We will tour Jacobs Field, visit the Rock Hall and conclude with a dinner cruise that takes us out onto Lake Erie.
Posted by jbg15 at 10:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 07, 2006
How Many Colleges Will You Apply To?
I have to admit, my mind is totally blown by the trend of applying to dozens of colleges (see In New Twist on College Search, a First Choice, and 20 Backups). Perhaps because back in the day, I applied to only 3 colleges. Literally. 1. The school I wanted. 2. The school my mother recommended. 3. The safety school.
Intellectually, I know that people do this to try to get into the most prestigious institution they can, but on a visceral level, I don't really understand why anyone would actually want to submit that many applications. My mind keeps returning to the downsides: the time, energy and money it takes; the lack of focus it implies; and the distraction it creates from experiencing one's senior year of high school.
Or am I missing something? How many college do you plan on applying to? What do you think of the practice of applying to a whole herd of colleges?
Posted by pls9 at 12:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack