Reynolds student Dylan Chaplin - Dylan is serving as a PR Assistant this summer as
well as a Student Ambassador in the fall. He also
served as the Vice-President of The H.E.A.R.T Service, which is a community
service and civic engagement club designed to create connections between Reynolds
and its surrounding communities. During his first two semesters at Reynolds he
successfully completed the college's Leadership Program, JSR LEAD. In his spare
time he likes to blog.
Here at Reynolds Community College four-year university students often attend classes during their summer sessions. Initially one would think, “Why would a student, who was accepted at a university, take classes at a community college?”, and after several interviews a variety of answers to that question have been revealed.
Featuring Emma
Maiden from Longwood University, Breana Washington from Virginia State
University, and Abbey O’Farrell from Virginia Tech.
Below are the interview questions asked and the student’s responses. Emma’s answers will be noted by EM, Breana by BW, and Abbey by AOF.
What University do you attend?
EM – Longwood University
BW – I attend Virginia State University in Petersburg, Va.
AOF – Virginia Tech
How is transportation to Reynolds, or do you attend distance classes without moving from your main location?
EM - The drive to Reynolds from my house is
relatively short. I really appreciate the free parking passes here rather than
$250 a year for parking at Longwood.
BW - I
am taking one class on the Parham Road Campus, and 3 courses online. My 'in
person' class is from 8 to 10:10 a.m., Monday - Thursday. I drive myself every day.
AOF
- I attend a distance Biology class that requires one on-campus
laboratory meeting per week.
What is your housing method? As an example, are you still at your main institution, or are you housed with family?
EM – During the summer,
I live with my parents. At Longwood I am currently living in University Managed
off-campus apartment.
BW – I
live off campus, I have my own apartment near the campus.
AOF – During
the academic year, I live in an apartment near the Virginia Tech campus, but
while taking summer classes at Reynolds, I stay with my parents in Richmond.
Why are you taking summer classes, and why
choose Reynolds for them?
EM – I choose to take summer classes at Reynolds
during the summer semesters, because it enables me to graduate from Longwood
on-time/early, it saves me money, and it is conveniently close to home.
BW – I
am taking summer classes to knock off a semester so I will be able to graduate
next May. I have taken multiple classes at Reynolds, the Parham Road Campus is
very close to my mother’s house.
AOF – I
am taking summer classes to get ahead on my bachelor's program. Reynolds is
close to my home.
From your experiences from taking classes at Reynolds, do you enjoy them? Why?
EM – So far I love my
class at Reynolds. The class sizes are generally smaller here and always seem
to be taught by teachers (not teaching assistants, etc).
BW – I
do enjoy them. I have never had a professor here that has not wanted the best
for each and every student in their class! That alone means so much they will
always do whatever it is to help you succeed.
AOF – It has been a challenge adapting to a new
software interface, since my home institution does not use Blackboard.
Would you recommend to your fellow students or friends to take classes here?
EM – Yes, I (would) definitely recommend my
fellow students to take classes at Reynolds. I have convinced two of my fellow
classmates to take classes this summer at Reynolds because they were worried
they wouldn't graduate on time or have to take too heavy of a class load to
graduate on time.
BW – I
would and I have recommended my friends to take classes here that have not gone
back to their 4 year institutions, just to keep their interest in school in
case they are motivated to go back into a four year institution.
AOF – If they are looking to get
ahead, yes.
Have you noticed any differences between your current institution and Reynolds? If so, what are they? Would you recommend attending Reynolds for a student’s first two years?
EM – I have noticed a difference in the
personalities of teachers at Reynolds. The teachers I have met at Reynolds are
all very personable and are very understanding of students with children, jobs,
and responsibilities outside of their education. The students have a lot of
respect for those understanding teachers and appreciate them for it. This is
not always the case with other schools.
Many of
my friends from high school attended Reynolds for two years before transferring
and really enjoyed it. At Longwood we are required to accomplish 12 general
education "goals" and sometimes it takes more than one class to
accomplish one goal (e.g. Foreign Languages). If I had attended Reynolds for
two years (accomplishing most of my general education goals) and then
transferred, I would have been stuck taking all the upper level classes
required for my major and it would have been very difficult (although very
possible). Longwood encourages students to take their general education classes
throughout their four years to avoid becoming overwhelmed with difficult upper
level classes required for their major at the same time.
BW
– Reynolds is honestly just like a four year institution except it
doesn't have all of the distractions that a four year college does. The work
load is the same and the benefits of coming to a community college first is
that you will get your associates degree and then you still have the option to
transfer to get your undergraduate or bachelors. It is also cheaper and you save
money and it gives you time to mature and learn about yourself and your study
habits, because whether you go to a four year or two year college, it is a lot
different from high school. I would recommend it.
I did not come to J. Sargeant Reynolds to start off my college
career but it is not a bad idea. Especially if they have a program that you
want to get a degree in and a possible career in. I did, however, leave my four
year college after the first year and start classes at Reynolds before I
transferred back to Virginia State. Reynolds gave me the opportunity to
continue my education even when I didn't know exactly what I wanted to be when
I grew up, but since then I have figured out exactly what i wanted to do and I
am now on track to graduate next May! There is nothing in particular that I
would change about this community college, everything is done very
professionally and everything is easy to follow.
AOF
– I think that people at Reynolds take a lot of responsibility for
their education and do not take it for granted.
