There’s No Place Like Home – Ranney Grads Visit Campus

Several dozen of Ranney’s newest alumni returned to campus Wednesday, January 7, for what is fast becoming a beloved tradition -- the annual College Alumni Day. The event, now in its sixth year, gives recent graduates an opportunity to visit their Alma Mater during the college winter break, reconnect with former teachers and administrators and share information about their college experience with future Ranney graduates.

The day began with the ever-popular Alumni College Panel, a program designed to give Upper School students an inside view of campus life. The panel, comprised of eight members of the Classes of 2008 and 2006, provided answers to student questions not typically addressed in the college brochures, such as: How did you pick your college? What do you like most and least about it? How do you get along with your roommate? And, is it difficult making new friends?

The panel offered up candid, often humorous accounts of campus life. Catie Gainor ’08, a freshman at Washington University in St. Louis, revealed her secret to making friends -- plants. “My roommate and I went out and bought a bunch of ferns for our dorm room and suddenly everyone came in to comment on them. I must have made about 15 friends as a result of those plants.” Aisha Masud ’08, said she now has friends “from all over the world” because there are so many international students at Cornell. The biggest misconception, the panel agreed, is that a roommate needs to be your best friend. “There is a happy medium,” commented Anna Rose Johnson ’08, a freshman at Tufts.

Panel members concurred that Ranney School prepared them well for the academic rigors of college, but emphasized that good time management and proper study skills are key to success in college. “There is a saying at MIT,” joked Jean Otrakji ’06, “Work, party, sleep… pick two. And that is definitely the case, because the workload is enormous and intense.” But finding a balance does not seem to be a problem for these former Ranney students, who, in addition to their college studies, still find time to play Division One sports, act in comedy troupes, work as lab assistants and volunteer in their community.

Following the panel discussion, graduates from the Class of 2006, 2007 and 2008 paid their first visit to RSPA Panther Hall where they had the opportunity to speak with seniors, one-on-one over lunch. Then they spoke to 8th graders in the DLC, and followed with a tour of the new Lower School Academic Complex. For most of the visiting Alumni it was their first walk through the new facility because the building was still under construction during their senior year at Ranney. Alumni comments like, “I wish I could have gone to Lower School here,” and “It’s like a beautiful hotel,” were overheard.

Alumni finished out their day by visiting 5th grade classrooms, where there was great excitement and lots of questions from students: What’s your favorite class in college? What’s your hardest subject? How many hours of homework do you have to do? And, do you miss being home? The former Ranney students offered up insightful and often entertaining answers, but overwhelmingly spoke of their college experiences with great enthusiasm and honesty. While college may seem a long way off to 5th graders, they, as well as Middle and Upper Schoolers seemed genuinely interested in hearing what college life is really like from former Ranney students.

For additional information on all Ranney School news, please contact the Communications Department at communications@ranneyschool.org.