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There’s joy in being a high school senior.

You’re on top.

You run the school and everything is going well.

You’re going off to college after the long process of deciding a college choice. Then you get there and everything changes.

Freshmen coming to Wabash soon learn their high school days are gone. Whether or not they are up to the challenge is another question. The fact is: some are and some are not ready for the life and academic challenges.

"We are trying to address any issues the freshmen might have," Wabash counselor Scott Cavins ’84 said. "We want to know how to help them. What do they need? Where do they come from?"

Cavins has only been the Wabash counselor for a little over a year. The College recognizes that coming into a new environment can be difficult. The counseling service is available to aid all Wabash students.

"College can be pretty overwhelming," Cavins said. "Adjusting to class, fraternity or dorm life, making new friends, et cetera. Here we can provide student services for anything from anxiety to depression or other stress related issues."

All appointments are confidential and the counseling center takes the utmost care in keeping things private. Any questions can be directed to Scott Cavins (cavinss@wabash.edu).

What if the freshmen think do not think they need any kind of help? Well, they may be right.

"No freshman has left through the first three weeks of class," Dean of Students Tom Bambrey said. "As far as we can tell, it’s all good. The general dimension of the class seems very positive. The time we begin to see how the class is developing is around Homecoming."

The College offers a variety of services not only to freshmen but all students including the academic services, counseling services, the career center and faculty advisors. All of these can be used to help a student acclimate himself to Wabash’s campus and environment.

"Most of what we do early on is at orientation," Bambrey said. "We introduce them to the Gentleman’s Rule, help them learn their responsibilities and prepare them for the rigors of class."

Does all of this actually work?

Several freshmen writers for the Bachelor wrote on their early experience. Download the PDF on the Bachelor homepage to read the about the freshmen's first few weeks at school.

The Wabash webpage has three freshman student blogs chronicling the life of Daniel King, Jon Short, and Jacob Lee.

In photo: Freshman Elijah Sanders is a Bachelor photographer.