For many upcoming Cavaliers, the word "college" triggers feelings of anxiety: Unknown buildings, unknown cafeteria food, unknown roommates and particularly a mass of unknown faces.
Beginning afresh at a new school can inspire many mixed feelings, but overall there is a dominating feeling of excitement for a clean slate in life.
Starting college is a chance to rid oneself of that heinous nickname you acquired in ninth grade and have not had the chance to shed until now. Finally, after four years of answering to a name highlighting one small mishap four years ago, here is a chance to assume a new identity. But for graduates of the Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology, the University is not so unknown.
Third-year Engineering student Joseph Calandrino graduated from TJ, a college preparatory school in Alexandria, Va. which emphasizes mathematics, science and technology, in 2000. Calandrino came to the University with about a quarter of his graduating class.
There are approximately 420 students in each TJ class, and every year about 120-140 students make the University their college of choice.
"It did make it a little more comfortable," Calandrino said, referring to his first year at the University.
But, he added, "Overall, it made deciding to come to U.Va. a little more difficult, because I knew the school was right for me, but I still wanted to meet new people."
First-year College student Nathaniel Frasier agreed that coming from TJ made the initial weeks of school smoother.
"Initially, the transition was easier, but there's the temptation not to meet new people," Frasier said.
In response to criticisms toward TJ students for coming to college with a security blanket, some pointed out that, although the first few days may be a little less intimidating, their experience down the road is more of a struggle.
"On one level, I wanted my college experience to be completely separate from high school," third-year Commerce student Nicole Leyton said. "I wanted to have the freedom to reinvent myself. I certainly did not have that freedom, seeing as I knew over 400 students the first day I came to the University. On the other hand, knowing so many people made my transition from high school to college much easier."
Once at the University, many TJ students struggle to receive the same experience as other college students by leaving their high school circle to form lifelong friends.
"Most of my closest friends did not come to U.Va., so I feel that I was able to take full advantage of all the familiar faces here," Leyton said. "But at the same time, I felt free to make new friends without damaging any previous relationships."
For TJ students, there is a fine line between branching out and forgetting previous friendships. There is the initial desire to be the independent college student who proves to himself he can succeed in the real world. On the other hand, the Girl Scout mantra, "Make new friends, but keep the old," comes to mind.
Like Leyton, Calandrino's inner high school circle ended up attending other colleges, although he says he still does hang out with a bunch of his friends from TJ.
"You become even closer to people you were close to in high school because you're in a new situation and you're experiencing something new with them," Calandrino said. "Almost like you're testing your friendship in a new environment."
For the most part, however, Calandrino said the majority of his friends were made here at the University. He said after first year, most TJ students' friends tend to be half from high school and half newly-formed relationships. Now a third year, Calandrino estimated about 20 percent of his friends are from TJ.
But what about those familiar faces from high school one never quite had the opportunity to get to know?
"There is an emphasis to expand your horizons, so if you didn't know them before you kind of kept it that way," Calandrino said.
Not every student from TJ, however, is able to branch out from his or her seemingly exclusive TJ circle.
"I know a lot of kids from my high school haven't branched out, and their core friends are the same," Frasier said.
Some TJ students said they sometimes find it difficult to stray from former best friends in order to obtain the imaginary notion of the "full college experience." Making the situation even more difficult, TJ grads are reminded constantly that they are simply one smart kid from an infamously intimidating school -- not simply because they see their former high school lunch table sitting nearby in Cabell, but because new acquaintances remind them every day with the same question: "Oh, you're from TJ?"
Frasier, like many others, is no stranger to this rhetorical question: "Yeah, I get that a lot," he said.
But, as Calandrino said, coming from TJ does not only indicate a safety blanket upon arriving at the University; it also indicates its own set of challenges.
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