Allow me to introduce myself....

My name is Stephanie Gasper. I graduated from Western Reserve High School, just out side of Canfield, Ohio (about 45 minutes from Hiram). I chose Hiram for the cliche reason that I knew it was the college for me when I walked onto the campus for the first time. Different people in my life had told me that I would know which college to pick when I walked on the campus. I all but laughed in their faces. How would I know what I wanted? How would I know what type of college will work for me? If I have never lived in a dorm room, how would I know which one would suit me better? I didn't think I could pick from a first impression.
As it worked out, I didn't have any classes on Friday's during my senior year of high school. Each Friday, a friend and I went to a different campus. We ended up at Hiram one week. I absolutely loved the campus. If I had to pick one thing that sold me on the campus, it would be the people. I'm not even kidding when I say that everyone - students, teachers, and faculty - is the friendliest bunch of people I encountered at any college. Students here talk truthfully to prospective students. Any student I asked a question to would answer it gladly. (It is such a cool feeling to make friends with the students I met when I was here for tours and at other prospective student programs. In physics, I am actually lab partners with one of my tour guides from last year.) The teachers and faculty were just as nice. I met with a teacher on one of my visits to Hiram and he was another reason I picked it. Denny Taylor (pictured on the left) reminded me of my favorite high school teachers. He had such a passion about his work as a biology professor. He is a genuine nice guy. He told me about the trips he takes students on both internationally and locally. He seems to think of the students as his friends, in a sense. I am really looking forward to taking a class from him sometime in the future.
Ok, so I applied, got accepted... blah blah blah. In April, I came to Hiram for orientation. I met with my advisor, Sandy Madar, about my classes. Being a pre-med student, she suggested that I look into the accelerated biomedical humanity major. With this major, you can graduate with the equivalent of a pre-med degree in only three years. In order to graduate early, you take a little heavier course load, but you also take a summer class. Call me weird, but I thought this sounded fun. I ended up signing up for a three week summer class. It was a biology class called "What is Human." There were only 8 students (6 girls and 2 boys), and it was a blast. First of all we developed a great friendship that we still lean on. Secondly, we ruled the campus. We had it all to our selves for a little over a week, and then we were sharing with the sports teams. It was so amazing to be able to get used to everything w/o the craziness that goes on when the campus is full. Thirdly, we had two amazing teachers. Colleen Fried and Carol Donley are a great pair. They were very laid back and easy to get along with. We did a lot of work, but it didn't seem like it. It wasn't till the class was over three weeks later that I realized that I had written 5 papers and read 3 books. We were in class for three hours a day and probably spent 3-4 hours a day doing homework, but it was spread out between eating, working out (well ok only once or twice a week) and hanging out with friends. I have no regrets about coming early. The only thing is it has kind of changed the way I made friends. We had an awesome group of eight, so even when the rest of the students came we tended to stick with our original people. We have "adopted" roommates and new significant others. As far as people breaking up with their high school boyfriend/girlfriend and how quickly (almost) everyone found a sig. other on campus is a whole different blog. I have so much I can say, but that's about all the time I have for now.
*Stephanie*