MV alumni

College lets students decide what they want to study and take classes pertaining to that degree to better their skills.

Cassie York, a 2016 graduate, now attends Cornell in New York and is majoring in biology. She is not exactly sure what she wants to do with this degree after graduation, but has a few ideas. Cassie said she is thinking about research, health administration, or health policy.

There are many expected and unexpected differences about college and high school.

Cassie elaborated on these saying, “I expected college to be a lot better than high school, which it is. I though the workload was going to be harder, and while it sometimes it, most of the time it is manageable. There is also a lot more free time in college, but if you do it right, you are busy all the time.”

While many students choose to stay in state, Cassie enjoys being out-of-state.

Going out of state was a difficult decision for Cassie, and she explained, “Going out of state was honestly one of the best decisions I have ever made. Not only have I gotten to live somewhere completely new, but I was forced to learn how to be independent. I also had to make entirely new friends and learn different perspectives that I have never thought of before.”

Cassie continued, “I chose Cornell because I knew I would get the best education here and meet the most interesting people. The population here is so diverse. I have a roommate from Singapore, a friend from Egypt, and a classmate from Korea. “

Cassie is currently taking biology, chemistry, Spanish, and a freshman writing seminar.

“Some classes have turned out far easier than I expected, such as biology. Others have been significantly more difficult, such as chemistry, which I dedicate about 15-17 hours of work per week. Spanish is a little more difficult than high school, but manageable. Lastly, my writing course is much easier than anticipated, and I believe that has a lot to do with taking AP English. Mrs. Schiller not only taught me how to properly write, but also how to cite, annotate, and read critically.”

Leah Chaves, another 2016 graduate, stayed in state. She attends Indiana University in Bloomington and is majoring in international studies.

Although this is not a common major, Leah knows what her plan is after college.

She said, “After I graduate I hope to either gain an internship to a lead job in the foreign service or the CIA, or I will join the peace corps for two years, return and then attend graduate school. After that I intend to work for the foreign service or CIA.”

Leah believes college classes are extremely different than high school classes, including the classes themselves, the number of people in the classes, the amount of work given, or the professors.

“College life is relaxed but stressful at the same time. It is nice having classes spread out but you really need to have time management skills, and find a good place to focus and get work done. College is much more diverse than high school, there are so many different types of people.”

Leah enjoys the ability to guide her own learning.

“I like my classes, they are much more thought provoking and let you guide yourself. Most classes do not have that many assignments besides reading, but when there are more assignments, they are big,” she said.

One unexpected thing at IU, according to Leah, is her biggest class size, which consists of 350 students.

Although college is not for everybody, these two MV grads who go to two very unique colleges and have two entirely different majors, are enjoying it.