Josh Manzi: Summer College RA

The following post was written by Whitman junior, Joshua Manzi.

I found out around March that I had gotten the job to work as a resident adviser for Summer College. At the time I had no clue what the program really was or what the job entailed, and even when I got to training I realized my expectations were much different than what the program was all about.

Summer College is a six-week long program where high school students, typically rising juniors or seniors, will come and live on campus while taking class and getting a glimpse of what the college lifestyle is like. The classes vary from architecture to game design to musical theater and some even offer college credit to the students!

My first group of residents were beyond excited to be there and right from the start began hanging out and bonding. The bond that these students created within a two-week span is hard to understand, but is proven true by the $105 receipt from Insomnia Cookies that they all pitched in to order. This first group of guys really set the tone for what this Summer College program was all about.

My next group of students were in the Information and Technology Management course that encompassed both the iSchool as well as the Whitman School of Management. As a rising junior in the Whitman School and a Student Ambassador in the Visitors Center within Whitman, I was ecstatic to be working with a group of students who are interested in not only Syracuse University, but specifically Whitman and the wide world of business. I had two students in particular who said SU is their dream school and that they hope to get into Whitman. They would always be asking me for advice and talking to me about some of the businesses that they have started/been a part of and it brought so much joy to me to be able to give advice to these aspiring businessmen.

The Summer College program pushed me to devote a lot of time and energy with these students, having around four events every week that I would attend and help run. After those six weeks, I feel so invested in these students and actually hope to stay in touch with many of them, just waiting to see if they make the decision to join our orange community. I’m so grateful to have been a part of this program and can’t wait to see what some of my residents go off to do.

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Adela Hadzic

Adela Hadzic is a senior public relations student at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She is returning to the Whitman communications team as a digital content intern. Her interests include television, politics and sports. After graduation, she hopes to move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment publicity.