A Liberty Survival Guide for Sophomores

On v. Off-Campus Housing

 

Jack Panyard

 

“Should I stay or should I go?” The legendary question posed by the Clash is especially pertinent to students in the middle of their academic career, those who are generally looking for more freedom and personal responsibility. As students are purveying housing options, whether to stay on campus or move off can be a difficult question.

There are upsides and downsides to each answer. For living off campus appeals include not having to worry about curfew or enforced convocation but you have to consider the expense  compared to staying on.  As an on campus residential student you have everything local with convenient meal plans and a strong campus support system, the decision may not be clear. Executive Director of Resident Life Dustin DuBose said each student is unique in their decision.

“People are individuals and I think that’s okay,” DuBose said. “I’d encourage people to think about it a little harder. Rather than saying ‘I want to get off,’ just to get off, think through the whole thing.”

DuBose said he would encourage students to stay on campus, but knows that students will feel inclined to become more independent as they get older and more accustomed to living on their own.

“As a student grows and matures, obviously we think that they’d be able to handle more of the things that come with living off campus,” DuBose said. “I would encourage a student to remain on campus just because of the community of the halls, the community on campus itself, the being close to campus services.”

Students desiring to live on campus must complete Financial Check-In (FCI) before registering for housing.  Residence Life’s website says that all unmarried Liberty students under the age of 21 must live on campus, although students who live in the Lynchburg area may apply to live at home.  Students can look for upcoming emails from Residence Life about dates to register for housing, as class status determines when they are able to apply for housing.

To look into off campus options, students should start at the Resident Life website to see if they qualify to live off. If they qualify, they can log into ASIST and fill out the off-campus living application under Housing.  If they  are approved, there are many housing situations to look at, whether it be an apartment or renting a house and the costs involved, such as Internet and water and electric bills.

 

 

CASAS Resources

 

John Vence

 

Though sophomores have successfully slapped two or three semesters of school under their backpack straps, they face an intimidating second year. With a deadline for declaring a major looming — and solidifying commitment for those who have chosen — second-year students can look to CASAS for help.

“[Sophomores] are now getting into harder classes,” Director of Residential Advising David Hart said. “Classes that deal with their major more, not just general education.”

CASAS offers over 15 different resources, many of which are crucial to having a smooth second year. Associate Dean of CASAS Nina Shenkle said that sophomores who might find themselves struggling in core classes should look no further than CASAS’ tutoring services, like the Math Emporium and Undergraduate Writing Center.

“A lot of students don’t understand the scope of the tutoring services we offer,” Shenkle said. “We’ve got amazing student tutors that understand the content in and out. Personally, I think that’s an underutilized service for…students.”

Shenkle also encourages students to meet with their professional advisors even if they are not required to. Doing so will not only help prepare for meeting with faculty advisors, but it will also ensure that sophomores don’t face any snags in their college career.

Sophomores also tend to visit the Career Center toward the end of their second year, according to studies performed by CASAS. Dean of CASAS Brian Yates said students should begin utilizing it much earlier to begin preparing for internship searches in their junior year by building resumés and practicing with mock interviews.

Yates also pointed out that sophomores should use CASAS resources to work hard in all of their classes, even the less rigorous general education courses.

“We found that students will reach their junior and senior year and say, ‘Wow. I should have taken that class more seriously. I could’ve done much better’,” Yates said. “That would’ve helped their GPA when looking for internships, if they had just done their best.”

That is what Yates said all of the CASAS resources are there for — ensuring students are operating optimally.

For more information on CASAS and the resources available for students, visit www.liberty.edu/CASAS, or visit their office in person at DeMoss Hall 1100.

 

 

Professional Experience for Internships

 

Elizabeth Lapp

Before you can get a job after graduation you need the experience — and that often comes through internships. However, most internships require some form of professional experience — and that can be difficult to get.

One of the most important things that sophomores can do is to start building professional experiences that they can add to their resumes. Mark Hager, assistant director of the Career Center, suggests a variety of ways to start gaining experience, ranging from being active in on-campus clubs to getting work experience through a university department.

“Remember Liberty University is a huge organization and we have virtually everything you could ever imagine in terms of operations,” Hagar said. “So if you’re an accountant we have an accounting, recruitment and finance departments. We have huge departments of all these people and you can actually reach out to them.”

Another way to make your internship application stand out to hiring managers is to get involved in a research project on campus.

“Employers look at research really favorably, especially when you’re looking at internship opportunities,” Hager said. “If you do a research project, you can really articulate a lot of the soft skills and a lot of the harder skills that are needed for a position. . . . It just gives you a lot of information to talk about and a lot of times will help to make up for a lack of experience.”

Even summer jobs and extracurriculars that do not tie in directly to your career goals can still become the foundation of a strong resume. Meeting with a career counselor early on allows students to get feedback on how to develop their resume and advice on how to strengthen it.

“Our career counselors can turn any great experience into a strong resume item,” Kathryn Thompson, assistant director of experiential learning, said. “Whether it’s lifeguarding during the summer, waiting tables, volunteering, doing administrative work for your dad’s company, really anything is going to get you a little bit more content for your resume.”