~ Friday, August 28, 1992 - North Shore News i? Students vet al an MOST STUDENTS entering Grade 12 this year have -probably started thinking seriously about their post- “secondary education, but some have had a first-hand North Shore students, along _ with high school students from around the province, have been ‘attending Simon Fraser Universi- - “ty (SFU) through summer pro- grams for the past seven years. The Faculty of Arts Sunmmer — Institute accepts approximately '-25 students. each July. These “teens. afe- typically. just out of - Grade-'H,. although some - ‘have ‘> completed high school. - They-:. attend: : ‘ classes, ity courses: for which they cepted at SFU and other univer- ities... - But more than - that, they get an. early. exposure.to university’ . that: enables them to have a bet- - : of: what: is instore if The summer institute program le taking taste of what university is like. By Pamela Lang ZAP! writer than average,”” he said, compar- ing them to typical first-year students. Through the years, Poole said, they have seer tangible Positive , results of the institute for its graduates. _“They call it a peak experi- 64 The courses are done at an accelerated pace, so in five weeks, they receive “the same information - . Semester.F¥ - , — - Jennifer Relss “started” in -1986° and was the %- “brainchild ‘of. then ‘associate dean -:: ‘and SFU’s new dean this year” THE The; objectives are to enrich ’- udents’” academic -experi- ence’ as. well as. preparing them: : versity, explained Gary. Poole, . who. has “been the pro- gram _coG dinator since dts incep- "Becau post-secondary school “very different from. high e said, the program ursting,”” he said, but attracting particularly strong ' ‘ students; ‘to AVERAGE ‘high school student: looks forward to. loung- *-ing- in ‘the ‘sunshine. when July -leomes,' but some are dedicated 0 their: studies: enough. to send hemseives to university. “’ This..year-:North “Shore stu- . dents Joanne Lee, 18, and Bar- bara. Ortley, 17, spent "five weeks of their summer. getting a head start. on their university educa- ..tion by. attending Simon Fraser “University (SFU) Along . with, "students from ‘around the province, Ottley, a ence, - their best: ‘summer, he . said, adding, ‘an important ‘part: :of the program is. the. Tesidence experience.”? - ~: Also very . important are’ the friendships. that are formed,: he said. Some program graduates have friendships that have lasted into their fourth year of univer- | Sity. ‘All summer institute students took courses in economics and . philosophy this year, but Poole said they do change from one year to the next. He added that philosophy has been a_cor- nerstore of the project because it . seems. to make. the students bet- ‘ter thinkers,’ . "Extra-curricular -activities are also part of the equation, with counselling Services. ‘and = social _ evenings. Poole explained. that although the ‘participants are strong, suc- . cessful students. who, are ‘Rood Seycove Secondary student - entering Grade 12 this year and Lee, who just: graduated ‘from Handsworth Secondary, - got an early education in university life. Most summers’ Lee has just hung around, she said. ‘1 don’t . do anything productive."" - . But this year, she liked the. idea of getting a preview of uni- versity before starting a full-time course of studies in pre-com- merce at the University of Brit- ish Columbia (UBC) this fall. What she learned during the Last week we asked you what the best and worst things abow the PNE are and whether it should continue. __ 1 think they sieuld not scrap the PNE. I think it’s the best time of the year and the best thing is all the rides and the worst thing is the lines for the rides because they’re too long. The best thing about the PNE is Aefinitely the big roller coaster, but the worst thing is how much you have to pay to get in and how much yor have to pay to get on ipically taught through a. tend. Post-secon- leaders and have always. done well in high school, the first marks they receive at SFU can be the lowest they’ve ever had. As a result, they receive help organizing study groups, they work with a ieaching assistant, an undergraduate lives in resi- dence with them, and a graduate student — Jennifer Reiss — acts as a liaison, spending’ time with the students and helping them adjust to university life. The courses are done at an accelerated pace, so in five weeks they receive the same in- formation, typically. taughi . through a semesters, explained Reiss. | > - Students: interested in attend- ing the summer institute are ac- cepted based on their grades and letters .of . recommendation, as well as a writing sample. ~ Because they will be attending accelerated classes, their. ability : to handle the course. joad is taken into consideration. . “We don’t want them coming away feeling negative” university, she said. — Reiss added, however, that there is-a large factor:of self selection since only. the most - committed students are-willing to” give up half cf their summer: to attend classes. She said SFU ac-. ‘cepts about. two-thirds of the applications they «receive: each spring. ‘*Their skills ‘improve dramatically and they -gain a sense of other. students _ like them,’’? she explained, adding that many of these students were at the top of their class in high - school, but find among peers. - The . benefits of the program are invaluable when the student themselves returns to. post-secondary | school, but graduates of the program have found that they are better equipped “to. tackie - Grade 12 as well. “We mostly get very positive feedback,”’ said Reiss. five-week: Faculty of “Arts Sum-- - mer Institute program, was more | than she expected. . While the economics course was of particular interest to her, . She may not have considered philosophy (the two courses are pre-set. for all suinmer. institute students). “JT really enjoyed it ‘(Philoso- phy) and now I’m’ thinking of taking. some ‘more philosophy courses at UBC. : ‘But; ‘for ‘Lee, : what ‘she gained was not just the material learned . the rides and everything. And I probably won't be going this year because I don’t have that kind of money. Yeah, I think I’d probably go because I really like Sweethearts of the Rodeo and fan Tyson and I plan to go to the rodeo. On the other hand, I really hate the ex- hibits that ‘show- things that you need for your household and stuff; that’s so boring. 3 also real- fy like the rides, so IE. probably ‘go once or iwice or maybe even three times. about - Question of the week: Students have one more week of summer left. Are you ready to go back to school? What gtade are you starting? What are your expectations for the new school year? (left} and Barbara tley spent halt. of .this. summer. in’ classes ‘at: Simon’ Frase University attending ‘accelerated courses and isarnin ‘and outs of university life. Besides getting an orientation, the ins classes, and counselling, students - § can have introductions.” tothe ~ university's . various. faculties © through meetings with the’ pro-. - fessors and tours through: ‘the: facitities. This handful of “students. gets : more attention than the: average: ‘disciplined, that: for. the first ti was responsible for: making sure she did. what she: should do “you don’t get punished for. not- coming to class.”*. “- : She ‘said she also. found ‘the™ professors very. approachable, . having a more open relationship’ with them than she had ex- pected. I'm aot going to go to the PNE.’ ‘scam because it’s pretty boring. There’s nothing really to do there. I don’t think they should scrap _ it altogether hecause there are a lot ‘of younger kids that might-Hke all the things that are there. The best thing about the PNE is definitely the rides but the worst thing is the price which is way overpriced. I think they should, . keep it because I pian to go at least once this summer. I like go- fing on the rides and everything. The PNE, I feel, is 2 major students she’ studied ‘with: w: - “tight-knit group’’. of :22° other: ‘with whom she expects to, keep... _ in touch. The best thing s about it ‘Is. \ : well, there is 0 ‘Dest thing. The “cotton” andy - gets: weit . runny. The: cotton candy. isn’t as. good.in the summer, not like" ihe” winter, 80.1 usually. like to: go over. : to Playland in the winter. hecause ” the cofton candy is of -better‘qual-: ; _ lity. In. the. summer, .it’s hot, it’s sweaty,.the cotton candy rans, it sticks to. the bag. and ‘you don’! get enough cotton candy. for your: money. In the winter: the’ cotton candy “is - goed, it’s fresh,’ -it doesn't stick to the bag and you . get your money's worth.