Profile: Megan Wise – Millenial Influx

As a senior at Trinity Christian College, Megan Wise plans to graduate this May with a Communications major. She chose a Communications major based on her passion for talking with people and writing. She thought of majoring in English, but she believes that she can accomplish more and be better rounded with a Communications major.

During her time as a student at Trinity Christian College, Megan has been heavily active on campus and in the student body. One way that she has been most involved is through her Resident Assistant (RA) position.

Megan became interested in being an RA as she became close with her RA as a freshman. She also lived with RAs her sophomore and junior year, which also influenced her to become an RA herself stating, “Through living with RAs, I got to learn what involvement was required with being an RA”. She also stated that she likes to have control over what events could take place on a floor. Her favorite part about being an RA is, “the team and how we work together. I also like bringing the residents together and being able to serve them”.

Megan has enjoyed her time as an RA.

Once asked what challenges she faces as an RA, she couldn’t think of much. She mentioned that, “as a senior and graduating soon, it can be challenging to have further responsibilities than just school”. Shortly after stating this, she mentioned that her attitude determines her position as an RA and the difficulties she faces. She said, “It’s really what you make of it. I don’t have moments where I regret being an RA”.

After turning in her application and having an interview, In the Spring of 2016 Megan received the offering of the RA position for the Fall/Spring 2016-2017 school year; her senior year. Megan is an RA for Tibstra Hall, which is upperclassman apartment housing. She lives with three others in her room and she has about 30 residents on her floor.

Megan enjoys her position as an RA as a Communications major because it has allowed her to gain personal experience in communicating with those she works with and those she is serving as an RA. She has enjoyed being on an RA leadership team, which consists of her and 9 others. Working with a team has challenged her to communicate clearly so that everyone is on the same page. Along with this, Megan has also enjoyed serving the people on her floor by intentionally getting to know them. She has gotten to know them through simple conversations whenever she happens to see them and by hosting floor events, usually involving food. When asked what events Megan puts on for her residents, she stated, “mostly just like food events. People like food”.

Finally, her word of advice for anyone who accepts the position of an RA is, “trust your instincts”. She elaborated that at the beginning of the year she was nervous that people wouldn’t have fun at her events or be appreciative of what she did for them. This thought quickly diminished for her because she learned that whatever she did to provide entertainment, her residents enjoyed it. She stated, “just by showing that I care for them is all that really matters.”

Homeschooler in the Real World

Emma Folts, a sophomore at Wheaton College, shares her experience about her transition into college and how homeschool has both helped and hindered her.
How has your homeschool experience benefitted you, especially in your transition into college?
I think the one thing that homeschooling did that was really helpful as I entered college was that it taught me time management. As a homeschooler I had the same freedom as a college student has to put things off during the day and go see a friend instead. Since I had that experience, I knew the cost of that.
Also, personal responsibility and accountability with assignments. I feel like a lot of the other students had more expectations for gentler grading and that the professor would give them retakes or extensions, but that wasn’t something that ever happened to me in school. That learning curve wasn’t added because I never had it the other way. I think another thing was that because I was homeschooled, I was familiar with the format of teaching and then studying on my own.
Did you see any issues with your transition socially?
I think that homeschooling had two ramifications for me socially. One was helpful, one was hurtful.
It was really helpful because as a homeschooler, I had spent a lot of time realizing and developing who I was as a person and learning to recognize people who were being themselves, and those were the people I sought out as friends. Friendship as a homeschooler takes a lot more investment. I knew I was choosier with my friends which made me a lot less anxious and a lot more content.
The only real negative impact of the social bit was that I was really used to getting to choose the time I got to spend with people. As a homeschooler I spent a lot of time with people, but that time was controlled by me. As a college student, I found that you can’t really control the time you spend with people and alone time is not really available. Learning to deal with that was a lot harder than anticipated.
Any last comments on homeschool and how it has affected your college experience?
I think homeschooling is really helpful, however it does take a slightly increased amount of advocacy with your peers when you’re entering into college. I think a lot of people come in with certain assumptions about homeschool, especially students. You’re going to get a lot of, ‘oh my gosh, you don’t seem like a homeschooled person!’ [You can’t] take that too personally and explain your experience so that friends can understand it’s an important piece of you, though it might not look like the homeschooling that they’ve seen.
My encouragement to anyone who is a homeschooler transitioning into college is to realize the benefit that you have having been homeschooled, and to realize that the bit of advocacy and explaining that you need to do with your peers is totally normal and that it’s not a big deal. Once they understand your experience, it’s not something I’ve experienced being looked down on for.