The idea was drilled into the minds of students at orientation that the first six weeks of school are crucial, especially for those who dorm. Studies show that during those six weeks, students decide whether their school of choice is right for them. In order to help students decide, Pace University created the program 50 Days and 50 Nights. This program pro- vides events every day and every night so students will always have something to do to stay busy and involved. However, even with this wonderful program, students still decide to leave Westchester.
Freshman football player Nick Poulimas decided very early on that Westchester was not for him.
“I decided to transfer to Pace’s New York City campus because I wanted to save money by com- muting from home in Long Island rather than spend the money on campus housing,” Poulimas said.
Reasons for leaving vary from student to student. Some are financial reasons; some are just that Pace isn’t the right fit for them. A freshman psychology major preferred her opinions about the cam- pus to remain anonymous.
“When you go to other universities, Pace doesn’t look anything like them. The buildings here are not as grand and the campus is miniature compared to others. I want to go to a university where it has more of a ‘college’ feel instead of a suburb one.”
When asked if she liked the activities provided by Pace, she was even less enthusiastic.
“There is nothing to do here. Days are filled with classes and then at night, there’s nothing. The weekends are even worse. The only places to go are the town- houses and those get old after about 30 minutes. If you aren’t of age and don’t have a fake ID, you cant really do anything.”
Attitudes like these provide students with an overwhelming di- lemma. A lot of stress and anxiety can come with changing schools after they just made one of the biggest changes in their life. How- ever, a lot of stress can be relieved with changing one’s environment. College involves a great deal of soul searching and Pace would rather have their students peaceful than overwhelmed and unhappy. This is the time in student’s lives to figure out where they want to live, what they want to study or not study. This is the time for ex- periments full of trial and error. Students have the option to try different things and see what feels right. No matter what, Pace will always be here.