STUDENT PROFILE
By Matthias Muutuki, junior Audio Production major
Jenni Taylor
Chicago, IL
Education and Spanish majors
Jenni was a freshman in 2008-09 and is now one of our RA’s (resident assistants). Her profile did not run in our last issue of the
newsletter last year, so we decided to include it this year. Future issues will include profiles of current freshmen.
Staying Connected: Any advice for parents?
Jenni Taylor: Be available and supportive, but let them go. Be there for your kids but let them make their own mistakes. Don’t try to hold their hands throughout their college experience.
SC: Any advice for freshmen?
JT: Go to class. Don’t be afraid to get involved and try as many new things as possible. You have so man opportunities here that you won’t have again. Study abroad! “Broaden your horizons” and don’t be afraid to switch your major. Give yourself time to explore anything and everything.
SC: What has been your best on campus experience?
JT: Pathways. Being able to connect with people immediately. Even though I branched off from there, I always have a group of people to go back to. Being involved with the Dominic Project. Just being able to learn about something outside of my major, working on something really big. Even if it doesn’t get published, just being able to work with other students and Larry Baden is really cool.
SC: What has been your worst on campus experience?
JT: Registration time. I am so overwhelmed with all the options and wanting to change my major…it’s a really a stressful week for me. That and getting sick in the dorms, because if one person is sick, then a lot of people will get sick as well.
SC: Is your current workload with classes more or less than you thought it would be?
JT: Neither. I took a lot of AP classes in high school so it wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t prepared for all of the long term assignments. You think 8 weeks is enough time for a paper and suddenly it’s two weeks and you aren’t ready. The lack of teachers reminding you of the assignment also threw me off guard.
SC: What do your weekends usually consist of doing?
JT: Movie marathons with friends in the dorms, homework, cooking in friends’ apartments.
SC: What do you miss most about high school and/or living at home?
JT: I miss the consistency and scheduling of high school, because you know what’s happening when, you have a set momentum throughout the week. Here you never know what you are going to do. Your biggest worries were whether you made the track team and whether you’re making enough money for the bills for college.
SC: Do you have an on campus job? If so, where/how many hours a week?
JT: Yes, Residence Halls Desk Assistant, Business Office, and the Literacy Corps. I work about 15-20 hours.
SC: Favorite aspects of on campus life?
JT: WOW (World of Wings). I really like chicken and I was really excited that I could get it at any hour, whenever I wanted. I love the size, where you can recognize people all the time and the diversity. Within ten minutes of going to class you can hear five languages and people are so culturally aware. Also all the interesting people you can meet here: people doing interpretative dances in the Quad and bands playing on the other side.
SC: What’s on your desk right now?
JT: Three unwashed coffee cups, my computer, papers everywhere that need organizing, a Han Solo figurine to inspire me, pictures of the places I’ve been (Costa Rica, Guatemala, England, Mexico, Peru, Canada, camp) all my CDs and movies…pretty much everything is piled on there.
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