The flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, the snow is melting away ... and the high schoolers are here -- it's that time of year again. Along with spring comes the rush of high school students, both juniors and seniors, trying to decide if the University is the place for them. As the influx of prospective students continues, University students often have the opportunity to delight in being hosts and to relive memories of their own high school visits.
First-year College student Maria McCall said she really appreciated the University's various hosting programs. "You get a more honest feel of what U.Va. is" when you come visit, McCall said. "You're out of that home world. You're more on your own without your parents saying, 'Do you like this or do you like that?'"
McCall mentioned that hosting a student is a great opportunity for the host as well. She hosted a high school student earlier this year and found the experience very enjoyable.
"I got to show her around Grounds, but I got to realize how tied into the University I am as well," McCall said.
Second-year College student Evan Mulvihill also visited the University as a high school student.
"I'm from Las Vegas, so I came and stayed with a guy in Old Dorms," Mulvihill said. "I met his whole hall. I saw Old Dorms and New Dorms, so it helped me choose which dorm I wanted to live in. And I went to a math class, so I saw the structure of the class and how things work. When I was here, my host was doing work -- I saw it's not all fun and games."
Indeed, most University students feel that visiting a current student provides a unique perspective on college life that cannot be gained otherwise.
Fourth-year College student Lee Skluzak said, while tours are greatly beneficial, they do not match the experience as visiting a student.
With tours, "that situation is very formal," Skluzak said. "When you invite [the student] into your personal space, they can get the scoop -- a snapshot of a couple of days in college."
This is why many feel it is very helpful to spend a day or two with a host.
"When I visited here, I didn't have anyone hosting me," first-year Engineering student Jason Pan said. "It definitely helps a lot if you have someone to show you around. This weekend, my cousin visited and I showed him around. He didn't need me to show him around [as far as] checking out the facilities, because the tour guides [already] did."
Yet Pan was still able to help his cousin learn more about college life. Many students emphasized the importance of catching a glimpse of all aspects of life at the University. When McCall showed her prospective student around, she said she showed her "general things, but also social night life. There's the academic part and the social part -- it all feeds in."
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