Students break ice, calm nerves on the first day

By Kelly Regan

It was early Sunday afternoon when Seattle native Maddie Boardman arrived at Jones Residential Hall. It started with a 2 a.m. wake-up call, a 6 a.m. flight and later a minor panic attack. She stood for a moment, her Northface backpack bursting at the seams and stuffed suitcases at her sides, absorbing the site before her. She rubbed the back of her hand on her forehead then entered her home for the next five weeks.
           
“I was a nervous wreck,” Boardman said. “All I wanted was to go to my room and get cleaned up after the most stressful morning ever but I still had to check in.”
           

For many cherubs, the first day’s check-in was a hectic and anxious time. The pressure of making a good first impression on the Community Associates and instructors weighed heavily while parents hovered close by. 
           
“I love my parents really,” said Jim Santel, a cherub from St. Louis. “They were just frazzling me. My mom was like, ‘Let’s make your bed,’ and Jenny (Hontz) was taking my picture and I felt like I had 50 people talking to me at once. I was just overwhelmed.”
           
Many cherubs met on Facebook before they arrived in Evanston, making the first day easier for some.

“I started the group so everyone could get acquainted,” said Jenny Temple, a cherub from Punta Gorda, Fla. “I was hoping it would help us avoid the awkward first day getting-to-know-you stuff. I think it helped to have some idea of who people were.”

Despite having joined the Facebook group before the program began, Boardman was surprised when she met its creator.

“I was totally freaked out when I met Jenny Temple,” Boardman said. “In all her pictures on Facebook for some reason she looks really short, but when I saw her in person I realized she’s taller than me. That totally threw me off at check-in.”

The CAs organized a dance that night, providing cherubs with the chance to get comfortable and loosen up after a stressful first day, even if there wasn’t much dancing.

“I was so glad when I met Maddie at the dance,” said Eryn Rogers, a cherub from Alpharetta, Ga. “We have the same taste in music, so we had something we were both able to talk about and obviously that led to talking about other things too.”

The diversity of the 2007 cherubs was surprising for some attendees, they said. Students of every religion, race, upbringing and part of the country came together this summer to improve their journalism skills and make new friends.

“I was bewildered by the diverse crowd,” said Alex Katz, a cherub from Newton, Mass. “I really had no idea what to expect going in because they don’t give you much information. When I got here it was really cool to see how different the crowd was compared to my school.”

Students said they quickly recognized the program was not like their school paper.

“At home, everyone is used to being the hot shot writer,” Santel said. “You still think that here for the first day, and then you realize really quickly that there is always a bigger fish.”

While here, cherubs said they discovered a common bond with their fellow journalists.

“Everyone at home teases kids like us for going to journalism camp because they think it’s so nerdy,” Boardman said. “Then you get to cherubs and it’s like an instant connection with all these kids who love it as much as you do. It was exciting to see that everyone here is really chill and most of all, normal.”