By Janna Habibulla and Moriah Ramcharran

Throughout the summer, numerous universities and colleges are holding programs which provide early insight on college life. Townsend Harris students are taking advantage of these opportunities through attending meaningful courses and experiencing dorm life firsthand.

Colleges that offer these programs include: NYU, Adelphi, Cornell, Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, John Hopkins, Harvard, MIT, Dartmouth, Princeton, Columbia, Stony Brook, Duke, Penn State, Brown, Yale, and many more.  These programs last anywhere from one week to eight weeks. Students have the option to either dorm during their stay or commute to the campus daily. While these programs may be expensive, many offer scholarships.

Veronica York, Assistant Principal of Pupil Personnel Services, said these programs allow students to demonstrate interest in courses of study and colleges they may one day want to attend.

Senior Olivia Jablonski, currently doing a college stay at LIU, said, “I think the greatest benefit is that you learn whether or not you are ready for adult life. Having barely any limits you have to set them yourself and it’s then that you learn how responsible you yourself are.”

Olivia added, “I also learned that everyone has their own story and you meet people from all around and everyone is different in their own way which is something that you learn to adapt to.”

Senior Xander Izower stayed at Cornell University to take college level classes in hopes of receiving help with his career choice. Xander said “he’d like to experience collegiate classes and how they compared to the rigorous lessons at THHS.” 

He adds that “college life takes a lot of getting used to. However, you learn a lot about yourself.” The college programs show the person you are, and allow you to envision the person you will become.