Lowellville High School has been around for decades, so there are hundreds of students that have graduated from the school. Those people are considered alumni. I interviewed three college students that graduated from Lowellville; two students from YSU and one from Kent. From YSU I interviewed Mathew Hvisdak and Giovanni Docherty and from Kent I interviewed Cadence Marsh. Cadence and Giovanni graduated from Lowellville High School last year and Matt was a 2018 graduate. These alumni gave an inside look at college life and advice for our seniors.
Generally, all three students enjoy college life. They are all majoring in something different including Chemical Engineering, Exercise Science, and Integrated Languages Arts. Cadence says, “college is the perfect place to meet new people.” Some people view college differently and Cadence is looking at it from a relationship standpoint. Meanwhile, Matt and Giovanni are looking more at the classwork standpoint.
Mathew is in his final year of classes, he is busy, but he has a good schedule. Matt says the biggest part of college is staying ahead of your classwork. He thinks college can be good and bad because it is so independent.
Giovanni says, “start studying hard in high school, it’s a really good skill to have.” Once you are in college you choose your own schedule so that is what makes it very independent and easy to lose interest or skip out on classes.
When asked how college is different from high school, they all explain how they have more “free time”, but it is still taken up by assignments or other work. In college, you choose your own schedule, the classes you want to take, and the times your classes are held. Mathew says, “In high school you show up and do what you are told, whereas in college you create your own schedule and are in charge of making sure you are in class on time, and your coursework is finished on time."
Overall, it is a lot more responsibility for yourself than what you had in high school. You need to be there on time, do all of your work, probably have a job, and keep up with your social life.
Matt and Giovanni both miss the life of high school a bit. Matt misses the simplicity of it and just being in the moment with less to worry about for the future. Giovanni misses the memories as most of his were made here at Lowellville School. Cadence doesn’t miss it because she felt she was just “there to be there” and didn’t enjoy it. She loves being herself in college, not cooped up in a uniform and having the freedom to wear whatever she feels comfortable in on that day.