By Kyeson Berger
As she shuts the car door, both of her parents are crying, their tears of joy mixed with tears of sadness. They watch their daughter leave for a new chapter in her life.
Nine and a half hours away from her hometown.
It’s up to Hollis Klinger to find out where she fits in.
Klinger will attend Syracuse university for the next four to six years of her life in upstate New York.
Syracuse is a private university located in Syracuse, N.Y., with an acceptance rate of 52%. The student enrollment is 22,000 plus.
“I was wanting the big school experience with the small liberal arts education,” Klinger said.
She will study communicative sciences and disorders, with plans to eventually earn a master’s degree.
Communicative sciences and disorders is a pre-speech pathology and pre-audiology that will prepare Klinger for her future in Speech Pathology.
Klinger believes her Delta dual credits may not transfer because Syracuse is a private out-of-state university.
But she still believes the dual-credit classes have pushed her and prepared her more than enough.
“One of the best things I think Delta has taught me is it helped teach me how to properly access academic sources,” Klinger said, “Taking English 103 and 104 through Ball State helped prepare me for the difficulty of college classes and taught me basic research skills like using databases.”
Klinger will be staying off campus in a dorm for her first year at Syracuse.
“I originally was going to do a random roommate, but I got scared, so I started reaching out to other students about rooming,” Klinger said.
Klinger does not yet have a roommate. She has been messaging people to find her best fit.
Syracuse University is just over four hours from New York City.
If you know anything about New York other than the big city and bright lights of New York City, it’s how rough winters can get.
The annual snowfall in Syracuse is an average of 127.8 inches.
In fact, the city of Syracuse is best known for its snowfall.
“The winters will be brutal,” Klinger said. “The temp is about the same, but there are crazy amounts of snow; it’ll be pretty, but I’m definitely glad I won’t be driving my first year.”
Syracuse does not allow freshmen to have dorms on campus. So she won’t have her car unless all of her college credits from Delta are able to transfer and she can enroll as a sophomore. Klinger said her parents are both thrilled for her, especially her mom who has always encouraged her to go to an out-of-state college and experience new places.
It will be a big change in her life and could be scary yet exciting. She is most anxious for the big transition and being away from her family.
But she is excited for the school spirit and games.
Syracuse is part of the competitive Atlantic Coast Conference. Basketball and football are the university’s biggest sports.
Approximately 34,000 fans attended each of the Orange’s home games during the 2023 football season.
And 20,000 is the average attendance for basketball. So those ‘Cuse fans show up and go all out.
She plans to join a sorority to further be part of her new community and hopes to be in clubs related to her major.
This university is important to Klinger because of the school spirit.
“They really do bleed orange,” Klinger said. “There is so much love and support in the ‘Cuse community.”
Klinger expects it to be a little stressful, but she believes it will be fun. She says it will be good for her to learn to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.
She is excited to begin this new chapter of her life and to see where it takes her.
She resisted the urge to stay closer to home and go to Purdue University, but she says, “In the end I’ve known for a long time that Syracuse was the place for me.”
She added, “When I got my acceptance and a scholarship, I knew it was meant to be!”
