Student Profile
Lifestyle: Commuter
Major: English
Name: Jennifer Bryan
Because she was only 16 years old when she graduated from high school, Jennifer Bryan chose to live at home and commute to campus. While she feels that opportunities to socialize and form strong friendships are fewer for commuting students, she thinks that has helped to make her a more mature and independent adult. Jennifer never feels compelled to be "one of the crowd."
Asked about her professors, Jennifer says, "I like and respect them a lot. I love the English professors." She says the course work is more difficult than in high school, but the biggest difference is that more is required of every student. There is no time to slack off, especially for those like Jennifer, who also work part-time.
As for her fellow students, Jennifer finds them exceptional in the extreme diversity and passion of their world views -- political, social, and otherwise. She says she expected members of the Corps of Cadets to be conservative without exception, but many are not, and they're not afraid to express their opinions. That's one reason Jennifer finds her fellow students one of the best things about the Norwich experience. As for their attitude toward academics, she says, "I think there's more discipline here than there might be at other schools. Other schools might not take themselves as seriously."
Jennifer chose to be an English major because she loves to write. "It's just my passion," she says. Her dream job is to travel and write for National Geographic, but she will probably start her career by serving an internship in the field of marketing. She says her years at Norwich have gone by too fast.
Jennifer's advice to incoming freshmen is to take chances and experience as much as possible. She had a friend at Norwich who was a real individualist, "She had short, black, spikey hair; piercings everywhere.." In her second year at Norwich, Jennifer's friend changed her lifestyle and joined the Corps, because she wanted to see what it was like and experience a different way of life. Jennifer respects that.
"If you have trouble making that decision and are not really sure, I think, why not go for it?"
