October 2006

You Can Call Me Perfect, but Who is Perfect?

So, a month has passed by and let me tell you that senior year in college is definitely not an easy task.

There are many similarities about being a senior in high school and being a senior in College. You can’t wait to get out and experience something new. The classes that you are taking seem like they are never going to end and you just want it to be the end of the year already. You have friends that you know you may never see again that you will miss, and of course those of them that you won’t...haha

However, college has its differences, of course. Not only are we on the verge of graduating and entering the REAL WORLD but there is no slacking off your senior year. In high school, everybody takes senior year lightly. There are not a lot of classes that you have to take and over half of your class is in study halls almost the entire day. This is my theory of why freshmen have such a difficult time sometimes adjusting to the fast pace that college throws at us. Freshmen year is generally the lighter year because you are not into your major courses or concentration and you can take the common courses that you need to get out of the way. As college progresses, it becomes progressively harder until at many points you want to pull your hair out...for those of us that don’t have hair like myself (since I buzz), we scream very loudly.

Devney and me at the 240 Days Party for the Seniors!

As you are sitting their filling out college applications and looking for any way that you can get a waiver for the application costs, put in the back of your mind that you are applying for something that you WANT to do. College is a choice that needs to come from you, not anybody else because you need to have the drive to stay on top of everything and succeed. Make sure that you visit each of the campuses that you are going to be applying to and making sure that you enjoy the overall campus. You are making the choice of actually going to that campus and paying them, if you hate the campus you are just going to be wasting your money. I’ve heard countless times of people going to a campus without visiting it and then withdrawing and going somewhere else or hating the campus and sticking it out but never really enjoying their college experience. Don’t be afraid of calling the school’s admission office, schedule a tour, do some research to see if the academic interest that you would like to go into is good at that school, how it ranks compared to others. 

When I was a junior at Maryvale High School, I had the opportunity to observe a full day of classes and such with one of my friends and it really was a great experience. It allowed me to really get a feel for Canisius since it was one of my top choices, and to get a feel for how the classes ran and some of the professors. Even if you do not know anyone that attends Canisius, Canisius has a shadow program where you can pair up with a student for a class or two. You can’t beat that!

So in closing my dear Watson’s, a few points for all of you to remember:
1) Do your research about the colleges/universities that you are applying to!
2) Make a visit to the college, whether for a class, the day, or even a weekend...any amount of time so that you can get a feel for the atmosphere and environment. Each college/university has there own personal environment and it may not fit into what you want or like.
3) Make a decision before you even start applying whether you want to stay local or move away. By narrowing your search, you are going to be saving yourself a lot of stress and aggravation.

If any of you have any questions or need help with anything about college life and the whole “Canisius” thing, let me know. I’m friendly, nice and very prompt with getting back to people. Specifically if you want to major in education/history/social studies, call Canisius Admissions Office and say that you want to observe with Dan Puccio! Seriously, it will make my day! Until next time my little Sunny and Cher’s...Au revoir!

Dan's December 2003 Journal
Dan's January 2004 Journal
Dan's February 2004 Journal
Dan's March 2004 Journal
Dan's April 2004 Journal
Dan's May 2004 Journal
Dan's June 2004 Journal
Dan's September 2004 Journal
Dan's October 2004 Journal
Dan's November 2004 Journal
Dan's January 2005 Journal
Dan's February 2005 Journal
Dan's April 2005 Journal
Dan's October 2005 Journal
Dan's February 2006 Journal
Dan's September 2006 Journal