The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Panel discusses life after high school
“It’s more realistic, I guess, to hear from someone closer to their own age, who’s experiencing it right now.”
Ten college students, ranging from freshmen to those pursuing graduate degrees, appeared on stage in the Fairport Schools’ auditorium Dec. 18 in front of an audience of high-school kids contemplating college themselves.
Dubbed Student-to-Student: Navigating the College Process, its 10 panelists had one thing in common: They’re all children of teachers in the Fairport Schools.
High School Intervention Specialist Jerry Hites is one of the people behind the panel and said he’s happy with how it played out.
“I thought it went great,” he said following the 45-minute, interactive discussion, during which high-school students thinking about continuing their education at the college level got to hear the experiences of people in a similar age bracket who have gone on scholastically themselves.
The panelists included Allyson Barlow, who attends Stevenson University; Allegheny College student Lauren Bodi; Ashland University student Kenzie Fischer; Caleb Hites, who goes to Alderson Broaddus University; Colin Hites, a student at Hillsdale College; Wittenberg University student Corey Hites; Kent State University student Sarah Kazsmer; Karissa Messer, who attends West Virginia University; Ryan Messer, who studies at Ohio State University; and Miami University of Ohio student Elizabeth Tenon.
The group talked about everything from how early in high school, aspiring collegians need to start making plans and doing paperwork, to how to manage their time and the varying options for sports enthusiasts to play on a team.
“We had a nice, wide variety of kids from universities
— Elizabeth Tenon
of different sizes,” Hites said. “And it’s kids talking to kids, not to their parents, about the realities of college life.”
Fairport Schools English teacher Susan Tenon said she thought of the idea to present a panel discussion after Hites brought one of his sons to school with him, during his Thanksgiving break from college, to speak to a smaller group of high-school students about going away to school.
“I was inspired by Mr. Hites when he brought his son in to talk to a smaller group of students,” Tenon said. “So, I thought: ‘What if we took it to a broader scale, with more (highschool) students and more college students?’ We do have a lot of staff members with children who are college students.”
Tenon just happens to be one of them. Her daughter, Elizabeth, is a second-year international studies major at Miami University of Ohio and was happy to share her perspective with a room full of aspiring college kids.
“I think this was a good idea, especially because Fairport High is so small,” the Eastlake North High School graduate said. She added that making the transition from a small school like Fairport to a university is something prospective university attendees need to consider.
She also said it was a good way for high-school kids thinking about going to college after graduation to gain insights from people closer in age to them than their parents.
“I think, for high-school students, it’s sometimes hard to listen to adults about college because, well, they’re old,” she said. “It’s more realistic, I guess, to hear from someone closer to their own age, who’s experiencing it right now.”
One Fairport Harbor student who said she hasn’t decided which college she’d like to attend yet agreed the discussion was worthwhile.
“I actually thought it was really informative,” said Fairport senior Olivia Hulett. “I’m not decided on a college yet, so I definitely found it informative.”
She said the class-size issue is something she hadn’t considered before the panelists spoke Dec. 18.
“I never really took that into consideration,” she said. “I’ve always gone to such a small school. I don’t know how I’d be in a class with hundreds of other students in it. So that’s definitely something for me to consider.”
Fairport Schools Superintendent Domenic Paolo said he was pleased with the way the panel discussion played out, agreeing that the narrow age gap between those on stage and those in the audience was a key ingredient in its success.
“There’s an impact in hearing these things from young people closer in age who are not adults,” Paolo said, echoing Hulett’s sentiments. “I think that, for highschool students, it’s hard to listen to adults about college because they’re older. It’s more relevant to them to hear these things from someone closer in age who’s experiencing it now. It’s more real to them.”