Take a Tour with this Week’s Campus Celebrity
Eckerd College is filled with many inspiring and genuine students and this week’s Campus Celebrity, April Minino, is one of them! April is a junior at Eckerd College and is double majoring in Human Development and Psychology. She wants to work with children, specifically with those who are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders, by providing therapy to them through learning modules and play scenarios.
April is involved in a number of activities and programs at Eckerd including the Student Ambassador Program and an internship through the Psychology faculty at All Children’s Hospital Autism Center. One of the most prestigious titles that April holds, is the head of the ambassador program at Eckerd. She says that the biggest responsibility that comes with being head is making sure that there are enough tour guides per tour slot to help balance out all of the families we have that come to tour Eckerd. Managing all of the student ambassadors requires having one meeting per month and also one student ambassador board meeting per month to discuss events such as fall and spring open houses and EEC (Explore Eckerd Days) in the spring. She said that being a great ambassador definitely means being someone that the students can relate to. It’s important to give prospective students a tour of Eckerd that reflects all of our extraordinary qualities, but you want to be personable with the families! Share things about yourself such as your major, why you chose Eckerd; really anything you wanted to hear when you were touring colleges to help you make such an influential decision towards your future! April likes to share her love of reading on tours. April’s favorite quote is “There is a reason God limits man’s days… to make each one precious” from a new book she is reading “The Time Keeper” by Mitch Album.
Since April has seen so many potential Eckerd freshman, her best advice for those students is to find a college that fits your personality as well as your academic goals. Don’t rush the process and really take your time to get adjusted to the place that you will be spending the next four years at. Immerse yourself as much as possible and become part of the college, not just another student attending it. Balancing academic and social life in college can be so difficult, especially for freshman since they are still getting adjusted to life away from home. Her best advice is to time management! Coming into college professors will always tell you that you have to figure out a way to balance your social life and your academic life and her schedule definitely shows this. Prioritizing also comes into play. There are some days that she has work and would really love to just go lay on kappa field for an hour and read a good book but has learned to prioritize her time and after work is finished (or in between) she sets some “me time” with friends or doing something she loves like reading or going to the beach. April is an expect in adjusting to college life as she is from Ambler, a small town in the suburbs of Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia. Since she is so far away from home, what drew her to Eckerd College was the atmosphere. She says that everyone is so happy and welcoming all the time and it feels like home to her! Overall, April is an incredible person and wonderful student/friend in the Eckerd community!