We are among you.
We’ve infiltrated your classes, study groups, the cafeteria, and even the dorms. We are (gasp) Early College students.
I am an Early College student in denial. Unless you ask me directly, I will skirt your questions for hours. My responses are well rehearsed. Where are you from? I’m a Greensboro native. What dorm are you in? I live off-campus.
Ask any Early College student who’s taking college classes: our worst fear of all is being “found out.” I’m not sure why I’m so afraid to reveal the truth. Perhaps it’s because I haven’t been at Guilford a single day without overhearing an attack on Early College.
Will people cry out in disgust and treat me like a leper if I say I’m an Early College student? Probably not.
But my insecurities certainly say something about the way Guilford students treat us, setting us apart like another species. So, I’d like to set some things straight.
Let’s start with the basics. There are not ten thousand of us swarming the school. The maximum number of students that would ever be in either level of the school, high school or college, is 100 students. This semester 60 students are taking college courses.
Ninth and tenth graders take high school courses on campus, and eleventh and twelfth graders, have a course schedule identical to that of a traditional or CCE student, usually 16 credits.
We’re not raiding and systematically destroying the facilities at the college. The gameroom in Founders, from what I’ve heard, wasn’t being used much before we were here. Now that we use it, the room has become more profitable.
Contrary to popular belief, we do pay the full price for meals at the Caf. Oh, and Early College students love the food.
A statement from a Jan. 30 Letter to the Editor reads:
“Frank, as it is, has turned into a playground for high school students to the point where they have begun to receive priority over traditional college students, supported by the frequent unavailability of Bryan Jr. Auditorium and other spaces in Frank.”
Not true. The only time that Bryan Jr. is reserved for the Early College is in the mornings from 9:00 to 10:00, which typically isn’t a time that Guilford students want to be up and attending classes anyway.
“We try to be mindful of when the college has to use (Bryan Jr.), and on more than one occasion we have bowed out of using the space,” said Tony Lamair Burks II, principal of the Early College.
Early College students register for classes at the same time, and in many cases after, traditional students.
“We’re not first in line!” said Burks, with a big belly laugh.
Here’s a confusing rumor: Early College students are not allowed in dorms. Fact: only Early College seniors are allowed in dorms. A good rule of thumb is if someone looks like an Early College student, he probably shouldn’t be in the dorms. Most seniors have mastered the art of passing as Guilford students.
“If seniors are in dormitories, they ought to be there for educational purposes only,” said Burks. “If your study mate is in there with a bong and the room gets raided, you’re going down, too. And also, to put it bluntly, we don’t want an Early College baby.”
Which brings me to my next point: Early College students are responsible for their actions. If there’s an honor code violation, for instance, students have to deal with all of the procedures that any Guilford student would.
Burks said that most of the people who are negative about Early College have had one experience with a student that shaped their opinion about the school, but have not had an opportunity to get to know others.
“If I defined my experience at Guilford based solely on the few negative experiences I’ve had, it would not be fair to Guilford,” said Burks. “The first four or five days that our office opened, $10,000 plus worth of computers were stolen from the George White House. Should that cause me to have negative feelings about the Guilford College experience? Well, for some people it would. But I can’t let that be the sole determinant.”
“We have more people saying ‘this is the best thing since sliced bread’ than we have people saying ‘get them off campus,'” said Burks.
So, instead of gossiping about how immature and disruptive the Early College students are, consider contacting the appropriate authority, or even telling us.
Better yet, hold up a mirror. Guilford students are by no means models for perfect behavior.
“What mother would call her baby ugly?” Burks asks. “This school is the baby of Guilford County Schools and Guilford College. So instead of pointing at us and saying we’re ugly, what people ought to be doing is pointing at us and helping us improve, pointing at us and finding solutions for problems.