TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — The JWS Center for Student Success is working to eliminate first-time students’ fears via parental encouragement.
In what Executive Director of the JWS, Lauren Cole, called a “new tradition,” each IMPACT session over the summer featured a time dedicated for parents to write notes on postcards for their new Trojans. The notes were accompanied by a polaroid of the parent taken at IMPACT and then hung up on the walls of Eldridge Hall.
New students can now go to Eldridge Hall to find their postcard and take it off the wall to keep as a reminder of home while they’re off in college. Cole says that she hopes the postcards help the students get a little bit more comfortable with college life and give them a chance to show up to Eldridge and use the resources they have available.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Pike County EMA has a new way to alert citizens about severe weather
“It’s really important that students feel like they found some belonging once they come to campus and that can be a little challenging in your first year.” Cole said. “Some people come here without any friends at all or they may come with a few people they know but they need to get involved and get to know the campus and get to know people out there.
“We feel that it’s really important the students get some encouragement whether it’s from us, the staff in the JWS, or they hear it from home.”
This new initiative is also going to be a part of the Troy 1101 Orientation class. As a part of that class, students have Atlas events that they are required to attend for class credit. They are given a long list of different events that they can chose from to get themselves out there and acclimated to campus and going to Eldridge and searching for their postcard is being added to the list.
Not only does this addition allow students to complete a class assignment but it also exposes them to all of the opportunities at the JWS Center and within the walls of Eldridge Hall.
If a student’s parents could not make it to their IMPACT session, they might be able to find a note addressed to them, just without the attached polaroid.
