Eye on the Storm: The Official Undergraduate Admissions Blog of the National Leader in Experiential, Hands-on Learning

Right now you can feel the tension in the air. It’s the end of the semester rush as students try to get papers, presentations and exams done before Thanksgiving. Senior education students are finding out their student teaching placements for the spring semester while the rest of the student body is preparing for final exams, the holiday break and their Field Periods in January.

Here in Admissions the counselors may not be in classes but we still have a stress all our own. It’s application review season! Keuka College is rolling admissions (meaning you can apply at any time) but most of our applications come in starting in November because our scholarship deadline is January 31, 2009. The pile of mail for Admissions gets larger and larger around this time of year with prospective students sending us their applications with the hope that they will eventually get accepted.

For our application process we require an application (to be done either in paper or online format) $30 application fee (which is waived if you come and tour campus) 1 letter of recommedation, the essay (found in our application) and your high school transcript. One thing that makes Keuka College stand out is that we are SAT/ACT optional meaning that you do not need to submit those scores with us if you do not want to. In place of SAT/ACT scores we suggest sending in an activity sheet or portfolio. Activity sheets and/or portfolio’s are not required but the counselors like to see one if you have it. The activity sheet and/or portfolio’s help the counselors to learn more about what you do outside of the classroom. Activity Sheets are more like a resume while the portfolio shows us what  you have accomplished over your four years of high school. The portfolio could include copies of awards won, playbills from musicals, plays, choir or concerts as well as original art work. As a counselor, we like to learn what you are involved in outside of the classroom which can also help us learn more about you as a person.  Application review can be stressful for the counselors, but I think the counselors will all agree that the best part of this process is calling our students to let them know they have been accepted to Keuka College. The reactions we get from our students are priceless and make this stressful time for Admissions all worth it.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Last week I met with my academic adviser to finish my course selection for this upcoming Spring 2009 semester.  As a third year criminal justice student, I had a very clear cut course load to schedule myself for.  I have to take two night classes, Criminal Law and Micro Social Theory.  Night classes aren’t too bad they just interfere with television shows.  I also have to take statistics which is a requirement of my major.  I am kind of scared for stats, I have heard it is pretty hard.  However, I am good at math so I am not going to let those rumors scare me too much.

Legislative Process is another requirement of my major.  All I know is it is a political science course. I am also taking Environmental Science with a lab because I have procrastinated for three years and now just deciding to get it over with.  I was hoping it would just go away but it still haunts me to this day (science is not my cup of tea).

As I sat down with my adviser, she advised me that there was a second part to my Introduction to Spanish class I am currently in.  She said I needed to take it.  So she added that class on top of my already hectic courseload.  I can’t blame her because I need to be able to speak Spanish fluently if I want to become a Probation Officer.  If my calculations are correct, for the Spring 2009 semester, I will be taking 19 credits…. OH BOY!!!!

Upon arrival Freshman year, your schedule is already made for you in advance.  However, your spring semester freshman year and each semester following, you are in charge of meeting with your adviser and setting up your schedule!!!! FREEDOM!!!!

You can finally create your own schedule and fill it in with all of those amazing classes that you are dying to take. (Just a hint of sarcasm).  Some advise, before meeting with your adviser, make sure you have a rough copy of what classes you are thinking of taking.  Once your adviser has approved your schedule, he or she will sign it and you are almost finished.

On your day of registering, depending on how many credits you have earned, you would go to the second floor of Hegeman and give it to the secretary.  She then will register you for each class you selected and you are finished. You can then push your Staples button that says, “That was easy.”

Keuka College offers many freshman and transfer scholarship and grant opportunities. These students represent five recipients of our most common awards: the Board of Trustees Scholarship, the George H. Ball Achievement Award, the Leading the Way First Generation Scholarship, the Experiential Learning of the Month Fellowship Program, and the Transfer Achievement Award.

Read on to meet these students and find out how their scholarships have made a difference in their lives.

Meet Our Scholarship Winners

About Jen

What you see isn’t always what you get, but in the case of Jen Bush it is.

Bush, a sophomore education major from Endwell, was an outstanding student in high school, boasting a 93 average. She was a member of National Honor Society and received scholar-athlete awards in lacrosse and field hockey. She served as an English and social studies tutor and donated her time and talents to the After Prom Chem-Free Committee and Homecoming Float Committee.

She was also active in her community, serving her church as a Eucharistic minister, lector, altar server, and member of the choir. She was a volunteer for the Town of Union’s Haunted Hayride, took part in the annual river bank clean-up, and volunteered at a food pantry.

That resume helped her win the Experiential Learner of the Year Award for 2007, which carries a full fellowship. That was important to Bush and her family from a financial standpoint because her twin sister, Jessica, is also a sophomore in college.

The Experiential Learner of the Year Award does come with certain expectations, including a minimum of 25 hours of community service per semester. That hasn’t been a problem for Bush, who has donated her time and talents to the Angel Tree Project (which provides holiday gifts for needy children), Make a Difference Day, Celebrate Service… Celebrate Yates (community service day in Yates County), and many others.

Oh, and about those two other things she excelled at in high school—academics and athletics? Bush hasn’t skipped a beat. She made the Dean’s List with a 3.8 GPA and is a member of the lacrosse team. In fact, Coach Alena Krug was so impressed with Bush’s work ethic and leadership skills that she asked her to run the team’s off-season conditioning program.

The admissions folks and Experiential Learner of the Year committee figured Bush would be an asset to Keuka College and they were right. On the flip side, Bush figured Keuka was the perfect college for her and nothing has changed that opinion.

“The moment I stepped on campus it felt right to me,” said Bush. “My family is my priority and Keuka is a family-oriented college.”

About John

Johnathan Dixon is cognizant of the responsibility that goes with being a recipient of the Leading the Way First Generation Scholarship.

He understands he is leading the way for others, in particular his older brother.

“That’s motivation in itself [to succeed],” said the Rochester resident and freshman biochemistry major.

Dixon hopes that his pursuit of a college degree will inspire his older brother to follow suit. So far, he seems to be succeeding.

“He got his GED and now he’s thinking about going to Monroe Community College,” said Dixon.

The Leading the Way First Generation Scholarship was the brainchild of former admissions counselor and two-time Keuka graduate Gerald Thompson. Dixon was exactly the kind of student Thompson believed Keuka should reach out to, and not simply because he would be the first person in his family to attend college.

Social responsibility is something Keuka tries to instill in all of its students. Dixon had it long before he filled out a Keuka application.

While a student at Wilson High School, Dixon served his community as a member of Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy’s Youth Advisory Council. The Council held a Voice of the Youth Forum in the middle of 2008 and compiled the observations offered by the 200 youth who attended. The Council shared those observations with the mayor and his commissioners.

Dixon was also involved in the Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection, mentoring students in grades 7-9 with an eye toward helping them build strong relationships with school personnel and family members.

“I love working with kids,” said Dixon, who plans to attend medical school and become a pediatrician.

He has prepped for that career by working at Park Ridge Hospital. Dixon delivers surgical supplies, something he started doing in high school and continued to do while attending Keuka.

He hopes to expand his hands-on, real world experience at Keuka through Field Period, a required internship program. It’s one of the reasons he chose Keuka.

“I like having the opportunity to experience my major before going into it.”

About Courtney

Opportunity knocked and Courtney Lincoln answered.

The Waterloo native was impressed by Keuka College’s Field Period program and small class sizes. The George H. Ball Scholarship was icing on the cake.

“I am honored to have received the scholarship,” said Lincoln. “This award has encouraged me to carry out my leadership skills and given me the opportunity to be a role model, and meet other leaders as well.”

A sophomore business major (with a concentration in marketing), Lincoln wasted little time assuming a leadership role as a rookie on the women’s basketball team. After two games coming off the bench, Coach Dave Sweet inserted her as the starting point guard in the third game and she stayed there all season.

And if her rookie season was any indication, she’ll be running Keuka’s point for the next three years.

Lincoln led the Storm in assists with 74 and her 42 percent shooting from 3-point land was also tops on the team. She was second in steals, third in scoring and No. 5 in rebounds. She also canned 70 percent of her free throws as Keuka posted a 14-10 record, including 13-3 in the North Eastern Athletic Conference.

In addition to playing hoops, Lincoln is a lifeguard, student athletic trainer and works part- time for a restaurant in her hometown.

She plans to participate in SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) in the spring, when basketball isn’t in season.

In high school, she played basketball, volleyball and softball and was a member of the Varsity Club and Spanish Club.

About Matt

At first glance, Matt Crabb looks out of place on the Keuka College campus.

At 6-feet-7, 235 pounds, he looks more like a linebacker—which would be OK if Keuka had a football team—than the president of Kappa Delta Pi, the education honor society.

But in reality, Keuka is the perfect place for the senior education major from Livonia whose transition from high school to college wasn’t difficult because “I grew up in a small town and went to a small high school.”

The small-town values he developed in Livonia have long been a part of the Keuka College fabric.

“We (students) all have a core group of friends,” he explained, “but everyone knows everyone and we all care about each other.”

He was also impressed with the education faculty and “had the opportunity to play basketball,” said the three-sport (football, basketball, track) standout at Livonia Central School.”

However, Crabb admits that he wouldn’t have come to Keuka without the aid of the Board of Trustees Scholarship.

“The ability to graduate on time without having a lot of debt was important to me,” he explained.

Crabb arrived in Keuka Park with a clear career goal in mind; his parents are teachers, so the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. However, Keuka’s Field Period, a required internship program, not only provided him hands-on teaching experience but “pinpointed what I wanted to do.

“I did a Field Period in a second grade classroom and while it was fun, I realized it wasn’t for me,” explained Crabb, who plans to teach fourth, fifth and sixth graders.

To further prepare for that challenge, he is working to set up “ Kid’s Night” programs in the nearby Penn Yan Central School District.

“It’s important to keep kids off the streets,” said Crabb, “but it’s also vital that students see school as a fun experience.”