Excitement, nervousness, overwhelmed and interested; these are just a few of the emotions felt by students and staff after the first day of classes at Lycoming College on Monday, Aug. 25.

Jenn Melhorn

Freshman Jenn Melhorn, who plans to study psychology, said after two classes she is feeling “pretty good,” but added it will take some time to adjust to college classes.

“The work is a little overwhelming,” she said.

She said she enjoyed her statistics class, because the professor made the class memorable. “Professor (Roger) Davis (instructor of mathematics) was interesting; he did a really good job,” she said.

Fellow freshman Josh Davinsizer also had a good first day of classes. “It was pretty interesting,” he said.  “The

Josh Davinsizer

professors were really nice.”

Senior Cassi Kaiser, who is the student senate president, said she is “feeling the stress” of going into her final year at Lycoming, but is excited to start the final phase of undergraduate work. “I’m going to start working as far ahead as possible and I’ll definitely work harder than normal because I know it’s the last push,” she said.

Kaiser is confident her education at Lycoming will help her get a job after graduation, because she said she knows Lycoming prepares students for the real world.

Cassi Kaiser

Kaiser said she would advise freshmen to “take their time” and work slowly and steadily through their college careers. She also said developing relationships with professors is a positive.

Jeffrey Rosenheck, a sophomore, is also looking forward to continuing his Lycoming education this year.

“I’m pretty excited for this year; I’ve got a good batch of instructors and courses,” he said.

Jeffrey Rosenheck

Rosenheck said he is going to try and balance his academic schedule and his extra-curricular schedule by using his afternoons to catch up on work and meetings, since he has all morning classes. He said he would advise freshmen to get involved and not “slack off,” but to make sure they have a good time in the process. “Just study and have fun,” he said.

Administrators are also having a good start to the academic year.

“We’re glad the students are back,” said Larry Mannolini, director of student programs and leadership development. “There are some exciting events coming up. It’s going to be a good year.”

According to Mannolini, the office is planning to work with clubs and organizations on liability and risk management issues this upcoming year, and is looking to “revamp” the leadership development programs the office sponsors.

Michael Hudak, director of safety and security, said his department “got a lot accomplished during the summer” and is looking forward to seeing how the department’s changes will pan out during the academic year.

“We were trying to fill in the gaps,” he said. “We’re trying to use technology to the best of our ability. We realized safety and security is something we want to do without people feeling infringed by it.”

The office has installed proximity access card readers on several of the buildings across campus, security cameras in several parking lots and hired new officers, among other things.

Overall, Hudak said everything is “going well” and encouraged students to stop in the safety and security office if they have any concerns.

“If students have a good idea, or have a complaint, we encourage them to come in and tell us,” he said. “They can be assured it’ll be addressed.”

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