BY BARB BERGGOETZ
Lillian Lyle knows she wants to go into nursing, but the Eastern Greene High School junior wants to get a better feel for the college campus where she’ll spend a lot of her time and energy in a few years. She says the Day in the Life student visitation program at Ivy Tech Community College–Bloomington gave her that chance.
The initiative, launched in September, sets up shadowing experiences for high school juniors and seniors who attend classes with current Ivy Tech students and talk with educators, getting a first-hand taste of college. Shadowing experiences are available for 16 degree programs.
Day in the Life was modeled after a similar program on the Ivy Tech–Terre Haute campus. Typically, students who visit college campuses just talk to admissions officials, take campus tours, and sometimes visit with students and faculty.
“I got a real sense of what classes are like,” says Lyle, 16, who visited campus in late September. “It helped me decide. I really look forward to getting into the nursing program.”
During her visit, Lyle spoke with the nursing program dean, toured the nursing building, and shadowed her mother, Sarah McPherson, 39, a freshman in the practical nursing program. Lyle attended a nursing lab and a medical surgical class and was paired with other students during classes.
“She did amazing,” McPherson says. “She retained the information she learned and can tell you how to put in an intramuscular injection.” In fact, Lyle says her favorite part was when she held an injection syringe and then saw it injected into a manikin. “It was really cool,” she says.
That’s exactly the type of experience Ivy Tech wants to offer prospective students. “The initiative provides students a chance to observe hands-on activities and simulations so they make a better-informed decision about their choice of postsecondary education,” says Trudy Weddle, director of secondary initiatives. “We want them to walk away from that experience and really be able to say that this was a positive or eye-opening experience that helps them decide if they want to be in the program or if that program isn’t what they want. This really takes the college day visit to a new level.”
Call 812-330-6013 or visit ivytech.edu/bloomington/dayinthelife to sign up.
