College weighs heavily on the minds of seniors this time of year.  Many are still waiting to hear from their top choices.  Some seniors have been deferred, and scrambling to make their case to admissions officers.  A few lucky ones have been accepted early decision.

But the end is near.  Thick envelopes will arrive.  Decisions will be made.  T-shirts and other college merch will be purchased.

Last week seniors got to hear from recent graduates on just the other side of the process.  Nine alumni from the Class of 2014 returned to the Loop to talk with seniors about their first semester of college.

“You’re hearing from friends.  It’s one thing if I, or a teacher here or an adviser or something said to a senior, ‘You really need to do so-and-so because you’ll see when you’re going off to college….’  It’s a different thing when it’s someone just a year older coming back to you and saying ‘Hey remember when that teacher said blah-blah-blah? Well it’s true,’” said Director of Alumni Affairs Ms. Jaime Kaplan, who organized the panel.

The college freshmen gave tips about dealing with their first semester of college, discussing everything from roommates to how to pick a class.

“You don’t have time not to be yourself,” said Holly Bean, who currently attends Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

“Responsibility comes up when you’re on your own.  You’re adults in the real world,” said Hunter Quintal, who is at Brown University.

“Every freshman is in the exact same boat as you are,” said Montgomery Jones, who goes to Georgia College.

“Go to everything,” Jones added. “ I have friends in a lot of different organizations.”

The college freshmen included a variety of students, boys and girls, from various countries around the United States.  The panel featured John Mitchell (Mercer University), Val Sheridan (Samford University), Holly Bean (Indiana University), Stacey Dorogy (Furman University), Hayden Graham (Georgia Southern University), Claudia Monfort (University of Mississippi), Montgomery Jones (Georgia College), Emily Schlottman (College of Charleston), Abbie Nash (University of Georgia), and Hunter Quintal (Brown University).

Kaplan said that this year’s panel was the largest in the three years that she has run the event.