BY JENISE G. MORGAN
FLORIDA COURIER

Many teenagers and young adults will leave their familiar nests this month and head to colleges and major universities like Florida State University.

For the past 10 years, Joanne Clark has been facilitating a First Year Experience course at FSU, so she is familiar with the plight of the freshman college student. Clark and other college administrators have simple but sage advice for students to be successful during the first year and beyond.

“My advice to the new students and parents as they wade through the admissions/orientation process is to come fully prepared,” Clark, an administrator in FSU’s financial aid office, told the Florida Courier. “Come prepared with a copy of all of the documents that you have had to submit.

Have paperwork in order
“In some instances, you may be asked to produce the same information that you have already submitted and you want to be sure that your information is consistent. Hopefully, you have developed a college folder so that all information has been kept together.”

Sounds simple enough, but students don’t always heed that advice. Lonnie Morris, admissions director at Edward Waters College, a historically Black school in Jacksonville, agrees that students must have their documents in order to easily wade through the process.

“The admissions process is relatively simple. It’s well laid out with specific instructions and required documents. Postadmissions is where I see many avoidable roadblocks,” he told the Florida Courier.

“Timely and accurate submission of important documents eases the post-admissions transition. Completing the financial aid process is critical to moving forward. Make it a priority to respond to all requests for additional information, particularly in providing verification documents.’’

Growth trend at HBCUs
An annual posting called the “Thurgood Marshall College Fund Demographic Report” reveals an enrollment growth trend at public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) for the 2005- 2006 academic year. In 2002, public HBCUs enrolled 206,000 students. The number increased by 2006, totaling 235,000.

In 2004, nearly 34,000 first-time freshmen were enrolled at HBCUs featured in the report, which included Florida A&M University, one of the nation’s largest predominantly Black institutions. In 2005, 62 percent of those students returned to continue their education.

Build study skills
Florida Courier publisher Charles W. Cherry II is the author of “Excellence Without Excuse: The Black Student’s Guide To Academic Excellence”, a book that is used in college prep courses around the country. He says students must build on or develop skills in time management, note-taking, listening, and memorization, be ready for ‘culture shock’ on large state university campuses, stay focused, and get out fast during their first year.

“Numerically, it’s tougher to raise or lower your grades after your freshman year,” Cherry says. “Black students must especially be very careful about being lulled into comfort and complacency by distractions like parties, social relationships, and recreational activity on the Internet.”

Clark said the typical problems that can mar a student’s college experience during the first weeks are threefold—abuse of their new freedom, yielding to peer press

ure and spreading themselves too thin.

Reading is fundamental
“During the first month, with no one to tell a student when to come and go; many students will ‘hang out’ when they should be studying,” she noted. “In some instances, a student yielding to peer pressure will begin to drink even though it was not something that they did at home. And still other students will join every organization available, not realizing that those commitments will take time away from their studies.’’

Morris, who has been director of admissions at Edward Waters for two years and in the industry for 10, said students who want to be successful in college must expand their knowledge by reading more—not just work given as class assignments.

“Students who read more grow from the exposure. Choose your own material—magazines, journals, books, poetry, newspaper or even blogs. Reading for pleasure builds your vocabulary, expands your perspective, sharpens your reasoning skills and enhances your problem- solving ability. All of those things are necessary to navigate academic and social life in a college setting,” he explained.

Preparation for the ‘real world’
Theo Blake, who graduated this year from Monarch High School in Broward County, started classes this week at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa. A confident Blake, who plans to major in mass communications, calls his enrollment at the college his “start before I step into the ‘real world.’ ’’

“In high school, I always tried to be active and try new things, such as wrestling, acting, debating, etc. So after four years of high school and being active, I highly anticipate putting all the different attributes together and bring these skills to Tampa,” he told the Florida Courier.

Blake, who grew up in Fort Lauderdale, will live on campus at the Tampa college and says he’s ready to face the challenge of a new city and new environment. However, his primary concern is having enough to take care of his financial needs.

Finances a concern
“Sure, college has lived up to the hype for many years, but everything can seem rough in the start. It’s a matter of how people adjust and how flexible they are. I am personally still trying to be flexible about the pricing of college. Sure, you cannot put a price on a good education, but due to the economy now, and the pricing for college, getting enough money for a ‘good’ education is not only a factor for myself but for others out there.’’

Shaunice Barriero admits to having trepidation about college life when she began taking classes at the University of South Florida a few years ago after living in Daytona Beach.

“I was excited about moving out and being on my own. I was looking forward to meeting new people. I was a little scared though because I was leaving my comfort zone,” she told the Florida Courier. “People always get scared when they have to start over. I looked at it as an adventure. I was afraid because I didn’t have any friends. But I was never worried about my grades. I always did good in school.”

Remember the mission
Barriero said her biggest concern was “not being able to live up to the expectations put on me by my family being the first grandchild to go to college.’’

Clark said the most important piece of advice she can give to new students is for them to remember why they chose to go to college — to get an education.

“Do not take that mission lightly,” she urges students. “Be serious about your studies, embrace the information that you receive in class, complete assignments with enthusiasm, concentrate on classwork first and you will have plenty of time for the rest. And remember, all other campus activities should be done in moderation.’’