May 30, 2017
There are so many transitions in this life. Among endless others, here are some of the particularly good, stuff-of-life ones:
- Our miraculous emergence from the womb into the world.
- Baby food to solid food.
- Falling in love...in fifth grade.
- Falling out of love...two weeks later.
- Puberty, yup.
- Moving away and moving in.
And on and on it could go, transitions of place, self, our social networks, our responsibilities and longings, our cares and fears. The thing about these kinds of transitions is that they are almost always formational in one way or another. Transitions shape our perspectives and hearts, and often determine whether or not we’ll thrive when we decide to embrace the new places we find ourselves in.
The transition from anywhere into college is a big deal, something that is well understood by the people that spend their lives here at HoneyRock. People like Rachael Cyrus, our Passage manager, and Rob Ribbe, our director, have been applying some next-level thinking to this whole transition idea; they even conducted a study on the Passage program and published research on what they found. So, if you’re interested in setting yourself up for a great experience at Wheaton, or maybe just in avoiding the angst and uncertainty you now feel after scrolling through the photos of your potential roommate on Facebook, this is something that deserves your attention.
To summarize their findings, Rachael Cyrus and Rob Ribbe write, “The results of this study suggest that there is a statistically significant difference between outdoor orientation program (Passage) and non-outdoor orientation program students (not Passage) in overall adaptation to college, social adjustment, and attachment to institution.” Their research shows that Passage students tend to orient to the college environment better than other incoming students on several different levels.
Here is Wheaton student Molly Reeves putting it in her own words:
“I was encouraged by an alumna friend to attend Passage. Initially, I was doubting my decision to come to Wheaton. I figured Passage would help me figure if Wheaton was really the place I wanted to be. Thankfully, being a part of Passage not only confirmed to me that Wheaton was where I needed to be, but it was through experiences at Passage that I met some of my closest friends! It was so wonderful to have a faculty member that I knew before I even moved in freshman year, and having a group of girls to regularly meet with over the course of the first semester was a huge blessing to my awkward, insecure freshman self. If you are excited about Wheaton, nervous, or unsure, I would highly suggest that you consider Passage! I can guarantee that you will meet amazing people, have an outdoor adventure, and get a vision for what the Lord wants to do in your Wheaton experience.”