President becomes principal

Pat Lang has two favourite days of the school year.

One is opening day at Confederation College, the school over which she presides as president. The second is graduation day.

In between futures are forged and career paths laid. But none of it is possible if they can’t get students through the door that first time.

On Tuesday Lang became principal for the day at Superior Collegiate Vocational Institute, with the goal of meeting potential college students and helping ease any fears they might have about taking the next step in their lives.

Lang said she wanted to gain a better understanding of what it meant from a student’s perspective as they prepare to make the transition.

"I just think that the young people that are in society today are an incredibly wonderful bunch. The more that I can do to find out about them and find out how they’re thinking and what we can do to facilitate their transition, the better the college will be at the end of the day," Lang said.

High schools have definitely evolved over the past couple of decades, she noted, having toured the first-year facility, impressed as she was at the multi-media, welding and automotive labs, all areas of study offered at Confederation College.

It’s a much more prepared student – though still nervous and filled with trepidation – that’s arriving at her school each fall, Lang said, promising to visit more high schools as a regular part of her own curriculum.

The welding lab was of particular interest, given the dual-credit program the two schools have created together.

"The transition for them is seamless. Our labs have been built similarly. The programs that we share help those students realize what it is they’re going to be working toward, so when they come to college it’s not that big of a change for them," Lang said.

Still, the fear and uncertainty was plainly evident when Lang met with a group of graduating seniors, all eight of whom plan to attend Confederation College next fall. When asked what they as the biggest difference between high school and college, the group of usually boisterous teens fell mostly silent.

"It being free," said Alex Luty, 17, who plans on a career in graphic design.
"(Not) seeing your friends every day," said another, who like her friends left the intimate lunchtime gathering quickly in favour of the cafeteria.

Luty, a confident youngster, said his biggest fear is financial, though he was grounded enough to realize his current schooling is a small part of the much larger picture that is his life.

"High school is just a small portion of your life. I’m just 17 right now, so I’ve got a good 60 years, 70 years that I have to get through. Then the real living begins," he said. "The main thing on my mind is student loans and being in debt, because I’m not really one to be in debt. I prefer being in the black. It’s a little bit nerve wracking being in debt, but I’ll deal with it."

His principal, Wayne Fletcher, said his goal was to give Lang a broad understanding of what they do at SCVI. But he looked at the project as a chance to be educated too.

"It’s not a one-way street," Fletcher said. "I’m learning from Pat as well, about some of the programs they offer and some of the concerns that they have and how we can help with that transition from high school into college."

Lang said about a third of their enrollment, which was up three per cent in September, come directly from high school. Another third are mature students who spent time in the work force and returned to school to better their opportunities and the remainder are people who spent years in the workforce, but are back for retraining.