There was a young girl who loved stories. She loved all stories. History stories, love stories, mystery stories, dramas and musicals, and of course.. fairy tales. There were no stories she loved more than fairy tales.. Ever since she was a child she would listen to her parents tell her fairy tales before bed. She could recite the words to every Princess movie. And, she even enjoyed writing her own stories..

As she grew older her fascination for stories never waned but the ways of hearing them would occassionally change. Whether she watched a movie or read a book, the means to which the fairy tale stories were created fascinated her more than anything. She could become so much a part of a story that she sometimes felt that she was the heroine or walking among the pages.

Once the girl reached the land of University, her opportunities to read and cherish her stories on a traditional level became difficult… until… a new approach to fairy tales emerged… This new way to tell her favorite fairy tales not only intrigued her but enraptured her! Never did she imagine that she would become so engrossed in something unexpected… a TV show… and not just ANY show…… but a collection of tales called… ONCE UPON A TIME…

Yes! I AM OBSESSED! If you have ANY love for the classic fairy tale stories… this show will take you for a crazy ride! Enjoy!

My Journalism Team and I from Belmont University face the growing reality of a NEW kind of fraud in our midst.

By Tara Knott, Dustin Stout, Kayla Becker, and Carrie Chalker

http://ow.ly/8DI0v

Now, I am in NO way implying that every time we ask somebody what year they are that we are simply guessing ages.  That is rarely the case.  But how often do you get to bond with upperclassmen or under?  We often are thrown into courses with those in our same academic range and thus often our same age.  Now I personally have many older friends (welcome to college and normalcy), but the majority are all my age.  Because I am actually a junior and have the age of a Freshman it opens the doors to all sorts of friends for me.

However, I always feel a need to hide my age from my fellow juniors because I hate the feeling of feeling like the “New kids.”  Let’s face it, I’m fresh out of high school and whether we realize it or not, the older you get the less you associate with those younger than you.  Plus, I think many roll eyes at the young freshies to the college environment.  But just because someone is a certain age does not mean that also determines their personality.  Yet, we still associate levels of maturity with particular ages.  And because of that… we associate maturity with academic standing as well.

College is an entirely different environment than high school.  If you are here it means that you are taking the mature initiative to do so.  (plus, I have seen many upper classmen that are far more immature than under). And if you think about it, WE ARE ALL ADULTS!!!  But the point is…. do not judge a book by its cover… or in this case a student by his or her academic standing.  Reality is… age and college do not always correlate.

So choose your friends wisely, as the saying goes, but don’t try to figure someone out after the first 3 sentences… ESPECIALLY in college. Because you really just never know!

For anyone who has perhaps heard of the PSEO (post secondary education opportunities) but has no clue what it’s about: I am going to give you the real scoop.

Post secondary, as it’s commonly called, is a program by the state to give high school students a “head start” on college education. Not only does it prepare the student for life in college, but it provides 2 maybe 3 years of FREE college tuition! Yes, I said FREE. High school students can take classes as long as they also coincide with high school graduation requirements (counselors help with that). Here are the details of PSEO from a post secondary student’s perspective.

For starters, there are several things every high school student should know about PSEO… here’s the real Dirt.
1.) TO the dear high school student, this fact is MOST important… This is COLLEGE! I.e you have to WORK at it!!!
2.) If you fail your class… you have to pay for it… literally.
3.) 1 class equals 3+ hours of study time and assignments!! No JOKE!
4.) You have to commute to campus for your classes.
5.) You are working with real college age students AND ADULTS! Nothing is PG anymore and the professors expect you to display maturity and keep up.
6.) Did I mention you have to work at it? It’s tough if you play sports or have a job or other activities and still stay on top of your studies, so Planning is KEY!

Alright, so this proves that college in high school is anything but easy, because let’s face it, it’s a whole new ball park! But I promise you (as a PSEO student myself) that it’s completely worth it!
1.) I really hope I mentioned already that Tuition AND books are FREE FREE FREE!!!!!
(Message to all parents out there… That’s like 2 FULL years of college tuition in the Bag!) Many full time students leave right after High school graduation with an Associates Degree!!! For Free…
2.) Not all courses have to be taken at the campus, aside from online courses many of the local schools have begun dual-credit classes at the high school to offer courses that COUNT for college credit!!
3.) Aside from taking your General education courses for high school and your degree, there is a broad range of electives and additional courses that you can take from Webpage/Computers to Theatre/Art and even Nursing, Medical, Business, and Law Enforcement classes to help you get on the Fast Track for your Major!
4.) You meet students from other local schools that you may one day come to call Best Friends!
5.) The classes are relatively small with an average of 20 or so people, so not only do you really know your professor, but your professors get to know YOU on a personal level!
6.) All of the credits you receive are transferable to Ohio schools and MOST out of state schools! (Unless they don’t fit in the curriculum of your chosen major of study).
7.) You leave SSCC well prepared for life as a college student in future schools equipped with not only knowledge but friends and wisdom that will get you far in life.

These are the facts: while PSEO has its difficulties, for me its possibilities FAR outweigh them. To take the step into PSEO is the step into your future. If you have any questions regarding the experience as a post secondary student, feel free to ask because there are many that are ready to give you their personal answer.

              So how is it an 18 year old manages to already be a junior in college?  Well you might have heard of a program referred to as Post-Secondary Educational Options (PSEO) or dual-enrollment.  However you call it, this growing state-sponsored program gives you a head start on college education… in high school. Every state and school district works differently, but the benefits of starting college 1, 2, or even 3 years early are innumerable.

I began as a junior in high school at my local community college as did many of my other classmates and friends from other local schools.  For us it was either go to the college with the rest of your classmates or take the boring classes back at the high school.  But let me explain some of the significances of PSEO.  Our state paid completely for our education at the college, which included tuition and books.  So basically I got 2 years of college for FREE in HIGH SCHOOL!!! Not to mention the emotional growth I experienced was incredible.  At the college level the student learns that he/she is responsible for his or her own education and only he/she has the power to make it work.  This is a lesson we all learned as we could schedule classes around our own schedules and not simply our schedules around our classes.  To have this freedom while in high school gives the student a blunt look at life as an adult.  Sometimes classes are even offered at the student’s high school.  I was fortunate to have several dual-enrollment courses at my high school that in turn also counted toward my education at the college as well.  This gives students the chance to not only dive into the college atmosphere but to still keep a taste of those final high school years as well.  However, by senior year… I never even thought to consider myself a high school student.  After being so engrossed in the college atmosphere I was a college student, not high school.  To say that a level of maturity and growth is gained would not be cutting it close to describing the emotional growth.

However, with the freedom of college I also had to learn responsibility fast.  The work load is a full step up from simple high school work and demanded time and dedication that I was not quite used to.  If we did not pass our classes for the quarter then the state would not fund our education, and we were left to pay for the class ourselves.  Even in high school, payments are not something you want to worry about.  Thankfully academics were never really a huge issue for me, but there was always that fear of not passing a class.  Commuting to the college was always enjoyable if you learned how to carpool.  Gas was not cheap and we were responsible for getting to our classes.  The other thing was we had to take courses that also apply to our required classes at the high school.  Meaning if we students did not pass a general course at the college then we didn’t pass it at the high school level either.

I never said that taking the dual-enrollment path was necessarily easy… but who said college is easy?  Was it worth it? Yes.  The benefits far outweighed the negatives to such a great scale.  Free college, gained life-long skills, a different level of maturity, friends, and excellent academics were just a few of the pieces I gained through Post-secondary.  As I mentioned before… I also gained my Associate’s degree by the end of my two years in the PSEO program.  In fact… I graduated from the college just 2 weeks after my high school graduation.  But it was my college diploma that ended up meaning the most to me in the end because it was what i had worked for the most… And I ended up gaining far much more.