Having Fun During Preview Days
Two weekends ago, Union hosted a group of prospective students from Midland Adventist Academy for its first Preview Days. The students stayed on campus and learned about college in-depth by eating in the cafeteria, attending actual classes and sitting in on chapels. Each high school senior’s schedule was tailored to their interests, and everyone had a wildly different selection of classes.
After learning more about college life, they were taken downtown on Friday afternoon to explore and see some of the highlights that Lincoln has to offer. The students were given the choice between specialty Hurt’s Donuts or a scoop of one of Ivanna Cone’s unique flavors. They were even able to join in on an ASB event: an excursion to Hollywood Bowling!
The attendees thoroughly enjoyed themselves. When speaking to prospective Union student Victoria Shelton, she chose to describe the classes she was given to attend: “I went to Intro to Counseling, which was cool, because I learned a lot of information that I didn’t even know I wanted to learn until I visited the class! Then I went to a biology course, and I got to see the cadavers and hold a human heart! After that, I attended a business class ... and that was amazing! I’m interested in business because I’m thinking about opening up a practice as a speech pathologist, so that was perfect!”
Making sure this event was perfect for the students took a lot of behind-the-scenes work. That effort was quite apparent in the final program, which was sincerely appreciated by Kelsea Allen, the group’s sponsor. “I think the structure of setting the kids up with classes or people that are apart of the programs they’re interested in is really smart. A lot of them came back and said that it was cool and they learned a lot ... It was well organized, and I especially liked that the ambassadors were involved and played basketball with the kids. They went the extra mile to ensure the students had everything they needed.”
The next Preview Days is scheduled for Oct. 31 to Nov. 3. Hopefully, those that visit are able to have a similar experience that shows them what Union is like. Whether or not these students choose to attend Union College, what’s important is that they had a fair chance to see Union’s best qualities. Good curriculum? Check. Friendly professors? Check. An incredible student body with kindness to spare? Check.
Drew Hickman is a sophomore studying communication.