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Holly Nickerson likes St. Norbert College
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| Holly Nickerson ’15 |
Move-in day, Aug. 25. Along with 579 classmates, Holly Nickerson ’15 began her life as a college student, bringing with her a heap of stuff plus a passion for concert band and Key Club, the Kiwanis high school service group. It was exhilarating. It was stressful. And it was happening to everyone around her at the same time. Like all incoming St. Norbert students, the honors student from Fremont, Ind., got acclimated to college life with help from the First Year Experience (FYE) and Week of Welcome programs. One thing about Holly’s first week at St. Norbert was unique though: She allowed us to open for our readers a social media window on her new world.
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Holly Nickerson is at St. Norbert College.
August 25 at 10:04am |
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To Michael Samm (close friend and key clubber)
I’m here and very stressed. We couldn’t get all moved in cuz we couldn’t get the loft up cuz my roommate isn’t here and my mom and Rach had to leave so it’s just G’ma and I. Tear.
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Going to take a walk around the beautiful campus and then get ready for
my millions of meetings! :D
Like · Comment · August 26 at 7:12am |
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Meetings meetings meetings … and soon there will be fun. Is anyone from Key Club of Fremont surprised that I’ll be participating in the service project tomorrow morning, “Into The Streets”? Yeah ... didn’t think so, it’s totally why I picked this college :D
Like · Comment · August 26 at 6:11pm |
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To Deborah Smrz ’11
Done with the scavenger hunt ... Way fun, but also way tired. |
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To: Grandma
From: Holly
Hey G’ma.
I’ve been having a great wonderful awesome time so far. It’s been scary, sad, exciting and new ... and now it’s confusing. I think that I left my iPod in your car when we went to go eat at Big Apple Bagels. Do you mind checking for me? I’ve been keeping my calendar on there and I’m very lost with all of my meetings without it. – Love, Holly |
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To Michael Samm (close friend and key clubber)
My first Catholic Mass was awkward because I didn’t know what to say at all … but it was nice to have a new experience |
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To Mom and Grandma
From: Holly
Dear G’ma and Mom,
So classes do officially start tomorrow. I have finished my honors assignment that was due on Tuesday and walked my class schedule with a very friendly helpful sophomore that I just met tonight. We had Convocation today ... which is I guess the opposite of graduation. It was nice ... Anyway ... I’ll let you know how it all went tomorrow. Love you! Holly |
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To Melanie Foulk (best friend from home)
CLASSES START TOMORROW! I can’t wait to get on a routine and a schedule. |
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Holly has joined the groups Circle K and Concert Band.
Like · Comment · August 26 at 10:04pm |
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I woke up this morning very excited for my first Honors class, and what surprises me in my email? One electronic mail unit from none other than the Circle K president of SNC!!!!! YAY! Things are looking good now that I’ll be getting my Kiwanis on!
Like · Comment · August 30 at 6:50am |
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To: caring adults back home (past teachers and family)
From: Holly
My first day of classes started with an embarrassing flop. I thought that my Spanish 102 class was in Bemis 214. It was my first class ever, so I had walked my schedule the night before and felt prepared for the class, if a little nervous about my Spanish-speaking abilities. I arrived early and was waiting out in the hallway when I suddenly realized that other students who were in the hallway were pulling out religious studies textbooks that I of course did NOT have. I asked what class they were waiting for and they replied, “Intro to Theology. You?” Another girl across the hall dropped her jaw along with me and almost started crying. “I thought this was Spanish.” We went into the class, the professor kindly helped us sort it out and we booked it towards BOYLE 114. Small mistake, but enough to make us miss the first five minutes of my first college course. Holly Nickerson, who will be checking her classes at least six times for tomorrow and the rest of the week before she gets there. |
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To Michael Samm
I am totally gonna love the honors department! Dr. Neary seems really funny.
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I’m doing college laundry … as in, clothes I wore in college are being laundered in a college washing machine, drying in a college dryer … and then folded by my college hands :D
Like · Comment · August 31 at 2:15pm |
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Holly and 5 others are now friends.
Like · Comment · August 31 at 2:15pm |
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To: Grandma
From: Holly
G’ma
Yay for care packages – except it’s not really my first one, because Mom sent me shower shoes yesterday :P – Love ya! |
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Great first week of college!! Am totally loving it.
11 people like this · Comment · September 02 at 3:02pm
 Lynn Olson
I knew it! I knew it! I knew it last year when we first showed up at SNC … accidentally! So happy you are so happy, and I’m so not surprised.
September 02 at 7:03pm · Like
Ahri Clark
Good. Don’t forget to eat healthy.
September 02 at 8:32pm · Like
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To: Erin Frain (daughter of high-school Spanish teacher)
From: Holly
Hi Erin!
I am really enjoying my classes. They’re harder, and I’m getting way more homework than I ever did in high school, but it’s kinda great because I really do enjoy the classes themselves. Every night since classes started we’ve been meeting in my room to study quietly for a few hours and then when everyone’s ready we quiz each other on our different stuff. That’s a lot of fun, and normally by that time of night we’re pretty silly ... but let me tell you: If you like middle school, you’re going to love high school, and if you end up loving high school you will ADORE college. |
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To Zach Kunkle (friend from Key Club)
I totally wanna travel abroad! The program looks so great and even if it was just a short trip, it’d be eye-opening enough.
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Best Friday night of college ever! Katja Lundin and I started watching “Burlesque” … then more people joined in. Then we dolled up and went to see a hypnotic show where Angie Firkus went crazy. Then we (by that I mean about 20 people) hiked to Comedy City and laughed our butts off. Thank you sooo much Rebecca McHugh for being an awesome roommate and watching “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” so we would have this idea!
Like · Comment · September 02 at 8:54pm |
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Lovin’ my Bergstrom Girls right now!!! Katja Lundin, Paige Brown, Rebecca McHugh, Becky Jackan, Dani Brockert … we rock!
Like · 5 people like this. Comment · September 02 at 11:33pm |
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To Dave Wohler (district administrator for Indiana Key Club)
I looooooove the FYE games. I might be in the minority of students who actually admit that … but I think deep down everyone loves getting to know each other better. |
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Hey Bergstrom. Come to my dorm, check out my fish, and then vote on my door for his name!
Like · Comment · September 05 at 4:16pm |
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Doing homework … NOBODY is allowed to talk to me, ask me to hang out/eat, or even stick their head into my room starting ... NOW!
Like · Comment · September 11 at 8:43pm |
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Holly likes St. Norbert College Magazine
The first week of college is eventful enough without the occasional presence of a benign paparazzi in the shape of magazine interns Nicole Jagielski ’12 and Joel Van Fossen ’13. But Nickerson was gracious enough not only to put up with our presence but to befriend us as she offered her daily glimpses of her Week of Welcome activities.
Her fellows took all in their stride, although her FYE group commented that they must have royalty along. There was great excitement at Convocation Aug. 28, when Nickerson spotted Drew Van Fossen (Office of Communications) atop Main Hall with a camera trained upon her. “He’s on the roof! Drew is on the roof!” she texted Jagielski from the event.
We knew all would be well when Nickerson “liked” the magazine page on Facebook before the week was out. And now, Nickerson has become a colleague: Her first on-campus job is as a student worker in the office of admission, just down the hall from the magazine office.
Thank you, Holly, for making this story possible.
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Haley Bass ’15 tells her move-in story. >>MORE
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St. Norbert College invites you to Week of Welcome
St. Norbert’s First Year Experience (FYE) is a three-tiered program designed to help students succeed in their early days at the college. It begins with Summer Orientation, a two-day program that gives students a feel for the campus and a chance to get things set before they arrive in the fall.
Week of Welcome starts with move-in day, a few days before classes begin. Events help new students get comfortable and create a network of friends and support. Every new student is assigned to an FYE group of about 18 students who meet regularly with a mentor – a junior or senior – in the first six weeks of school.
“That’s where you get to know some of your classmates for the first time,” says Nicole Jagielski ’12. “It’s your first group. You get to know people who aren’t in your building, who aren’t in your class. It’s outside of an academic and residential setting, and that takes the pressure off. Because you have an FYE mentor who’s another student, it’s easier to ask stupid questions! It’s your chance to ask how Knightline works; how early is the Campus Center open; how you look up dining menus.”
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Your ideas for future magazine
stories are most welcome.