As many of us focus on traditional “back to school” activities for our K-12 students — shopping for backpacks and supplies, starting fall sports and planning our first lessons — another equally important academic beginning is underway: the return of Cazenovia College students to campus. Those of us with college-age kids know what a momentous event that trip to school is, especially the first year. As a community, I hope we can all play a larger role in making our newest Cazenovians feel welcome and valued in what will be their home for at least the next four years.
Over the past year, many community leaders have been actively engaged in fostering closer relations with our counterparts at Cazenovia College and have found eager partners to work with as we all seek ways to collaborate and improve the greater Cazenovia area. We all recognize that both the community and the college are stronger when we work together.
The college is our area’s largest employer and has an enormous economic impact; it possesses wonderful facilities that can be a resource for us all and its faculty and students are an invaluable source of intellectual and cultural diversity. In return, we offer the college an attractive, historic setting for its campus, wonderful shops and restaurants and a beautiful natural environment full of recreational opportunities.
I tell visiting parents that, when they choose Cazenovia College for their child, they aren’t just getting a college but a community as well. Cazenovia is our college and we are its community.
As this school year begins, I hope we can do even more to make our college’s students feel welcome in their new home. My thinking on this begins as a parent. Many of us have sent or will send our own children off to school. How would we want others to treat our sons and daughters in their adopted collegiate communities? I hope that my girls feel respected, valued and included when they are away at school. That’s how I would like other people’s kids to feel here in Cazenovia as well.
I also hope that welcoming attitude can extend beyond hospitality and into the realm of offering real opportunities for growth while they are here. The vast majority of Cazenovia College students participate in internships during their four years and our community is an ideal location in order to avoid the challenges of transportation to and from our rural area.
Contact the college if your business or non-profit may have an internship opportunity — you and your hosted student will both benefit. Many students seek employment during the term — give them a chance if you have an opening. You may also find opportunities to mentor or assist a student informally. We have all benefitted from mentors in our own lives, pay it forward.
Last week, the village proudly installed “Home of Cazenovia College” signs at its gateways along Route 13 and Route 20. We hope those signs will not only alert visitors that we have a wonderful little college here in our community, but remind each of us of its presence as we come and go as well.
Perhaps some of those visitors will inquire further as they think, “Wouldn’t this be a great place to spend four years?” In similar fashion, I hope we will take note as well, asking ourselves, “What can I do to make our college’s ‘back to school’ even more special this year?”
