More than 50 Ward Melville High School alumni returned to their alma mater this winter to reflect upon their college experiences and share sound advice with students immersed in the college application and decision process.

During the program, the alumni, who are current freshmen through senior year college students, spoke about the fears and excitement they faced during their first semester, how they selected their college and the challenges that they encountered when making the transition from high school to college.

“The greatest benefit from this day was that it allowed our current juniors and seniors to hear firsthand from a host of their peers who have graduated within the past four years,” said Ward Melville guidance counselor and program coordinator Jennifer Sheppard. “Each panel had a different group of students of various years, majors and level of schools. This allowed our current seniors, who coincidentally had just heard their Early Action or Early Decision outcome that week to see the options they have for the future.”

Throughout the day, the alumni addressed a number of common questions such as roommate situations, school size and academic requirements. Alan Munn, who is currently a freshman at Loyola studying finance, noted how he “wanted a big school, but once I sat in on my first class I realized I liked the teacher student ratio a lot.” While addressing the social aspects of college, Jenna Madison, a freshman at Geneseo studying communications, stressed the importance of striking a balance and noted “remember you are there for an education.”

To add to the spirit of the day, the faculty also helped to spread college awareness by wearing their own college sweatshirts with pride.