Alums Visit Senior Portfolio Classes
You could hear a pin drop one recent morning as Huntington High School business education teacher Suzi Biagi’s Senior Portfolio class got underway. The teenagers had two special visitors in their midst: Class of 2009 members Rebecca Rodd and Vernon O’Garra. The pair spoke to two separate classes.
The alums were back at their alma mater to discuss their first semester experiences. Ms. Rodd is a freshman at St. John’s University and Mr. O’Garra is a student at Penn State. “They generously shared their time, describing college life and answering many questions.”
Current Huntington seniors fired away at their college visitors. If you could change one thing about your senior year in high school, what would it be? What has been the scariest part of college so far? Can you offer any advice to us about college?
Ms. Rodd and Mr. O’Garra offered plenty of college advice during their visit, including:
• Room with a “random” – someone you don’t know. It may be scary at first, but it will force you to meet new people.
• Enjoy the experience. Although you might feel like you want to come home, “stick it out for the semester.”
• Keep up-to-date with your work. It’s not high school and the professors are not going to “baby” you and remind you about deadlines.
• Make sure you get plenty of sleep, eat healthy and take your vitamins.
• Take the Freshman 101 class if it is offered and if your college advisor suggests an on-campus study hall, use it.
• Expect your friendships to change and know that your true friends will not disappear; they’re just getting used to their new schools, too.
“Both Rebecca and Vernon said they did not truly appreciate Huntington High and even the town of Huntington, until they moved somewhere else,” Mrs. Biagi said. “They were both scared and unhappy at the beginning of their first semester but they stuck it out and now they love school and living on campus. They recommend it for everyone who is ready for the next chapter of their lives.”
Senior Portfolio is a one semester, half-credit course open to seniors each fall. The course helps students with the college application process and includes regular visits by guidance counselors. “In addition to easing the stress of the college application process, we will see to it that you know some of the life skills necessary for financial success in college and after,” according to the course bulletin. “You will learn about checking and savings accounts, students and car loans, insurance and charge accounts. We will study investments (stocks, mutual funds, bank accounts). You will also have a foundation of business law that will take the mystery out of leases and other contracts that you may be signing when you are away from home.”
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