Freshman Class Brings Student Body to Record Size
(Fall 1999 Newsletter)
With the enrollment of 86 Freshman (49 men
and 37 women) into the College this fall, the College swelled
to its largest student body ever - 267. Admissions Director
Tom Susanka is particularly pleased with the Freshman class.
"These students are among the very best we have ever
seen," he said.
The average SAT score of this year's freshman
class is 1278, which puts them in the top 10-15% of the nation.
Thirteen students received recognition for exceptional academic
merit from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and
other scholarship agencies.
While about half came from private schools,
the other half came divided between public schools and homeschools.
Twenty-nine freshmen (34%) attended 24 colleges or universities
and 13 community colleges. Three have bachelor of science
degrees and one, a masters of science degree.
While each of the Freshmen deserves a separate
profile, the stories of the following four students show the
varied circumstances under which young men and women are drawn
to the College.
Hui Liu ("Hway Loo") is
the first Chinese national to attend the College. "Culture
is the basis of everything. I've been growing up in China
for 20 years, but now I want to enrich my mind, to absorb
the thinking of Western Culture. I could see that this College
was one of the best places to do it."
Born and raised in Shanghai, Hui was a gifted
young student in some of China's best schools. He became a
top student, having received many awards in English, computer
programming, and painting. He was admitted to Shanghai International
Studies University without having to take the entrance examination,
one of the most highly-coveted waivers in the Chinese educational
system. He excelled there also, receiving academic scholarships
and serving as chief editor of the university's magazine.
But after two years of pursuing a major in
finance, he wasn't challenged enough. "I watched a lot
of American movies," he confessed. So he began looking
into liberal arts colleges in the United States, where he
could read the great thinkers of Western Civilization. "Aristotle,
Shakespeare, Freud, Marx, - I had heard their names before
and wanted to read them," he said.
He came across Thomas Aquinas College on
the web. "I thought I would be challenged here and would
be best exposed to the Western Culture. You study the essence
of Western Culture. I also thought the discussion method was
amazing too."
Hui's parents sent him here, their only child,
at great sacrifice. China's Cultural Revolution in the 1960's
and '70s prevented his parents from having much of an education.
They placed their hopes on educating him. When he was 7, his
father sent him to an evening school to learn English. He
excelled and developed a thirst for Western culture. "My
father never smokes or drinks and my mother never buys any
expensive clothes so they can help finance my education."
After one month, he already sees a difference.
"My past two years I was just memorizing. This college
actually forces you to think to an extreme extent. I have
great gratitude for the financial aid that is offered here
to make it possible for me to be here."
Like Hui, Matthew Goulding also knows
about sacrifice. An accomplished violinist from Harvard, Mass.
Goulding turned down studying at the renowned New England
Conservatory of Music and left a full-ride academic scholarship
from Northeastern University to come here. After one year
at Northeastern and another year taking night courses at Harvard,
he just wasn't satisfied. "I didn't think I was learning
anything," he said.
He credits his experience at those colleges
with his decision to come here. He received a classical education
at Trivium School in nearby Lancaster, where he had been a
National Merit Scholarship Finalist. "I didn't realize
how important that kind of education was until I had been
away from it."
Already, Matthew feels challenged and at
home in his new college environment. "My friends back
home ask me how I can be at a place without any majors or
minors. I try to tell them how impressive it is here that
the curriculum and studies really unify the campus."
He still keeps practicing the violin daily.
"I do it because I love it. Who knows, maybe someday
something will come of it. It's a nice complement to my classical
studies."
Like Matthew, Jennifer Ahern became
attracted to the College only after going somewhere else.
Jennifer was raised in Leominster, Massachusetts and upon
graduating from high school as a National Merit Finalist decided
to follow in her father's footsteps at a well-known Catholic
university.
But within her first year there, she was
scandalized by the moral lives of so many of her fellow students.
"There was so much 'fooling around' going on and without
any thought that their actions were inconsistent with their
faith. And there was nothing taught there to make them think
there would be any such inconsistency."
In addition, she didn't think the liberal
arts program in which she was enrolled was rigorous enough.
"What intrigued me about TAC is that it had a rigorous
curriculum and was totally Catholic. Had I not gone to another
college first, I wouldn't have appreciated the moral rules
here as much. The curfew rules and the rules against opposite
sex dorm visitation - I had been exposed enough to the 'real
world' and much of it is detrimental to a good college experience.
Jennifer had always liked reading and discussing
books and philosophy. She had been active in her parish and
school choir, and loved art and drawing. She left behind one
sister and six brothers in her parents' new home of Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania. She has adapted well to her new surroundings
and is taking Greek on the side.
"I like having the same members in each
class. You get to bond with them very quickly and because
you have the same free time, you continue having great discussions
with them and with your tutors outside of class. And the social
life is much better than I had expected. There is no end of
fun things to do outside of class."
From the remote southeast tip of the United
States comes Merrill Roberts of Key West, Florida,
a National Merit Finalist who turned down a full-ride scholarship
at Florida State University to attend the College. During
the summer of his junior year, Merrill was at the tail-end
of a six-week program at an FSU Young Scholars Program sponsored
by the National Science Foundation when his mother called
to tell him that Thomas Aquinas College still had room for
him to attend its High School Summer Program in August. He
rushed in his application and jumped on a plane to California.
It was everything he had hoped for. He had
settled on going to a "Great Books" college because
he wanted to read "what all of the best minds in history
have to say about all of the important things in life."
"People are always saying, 'Yeah, I always wanted to
read that book.' I didn't want to be that way. I figured that
even if I were to find the time later in life to read those
books, a personal reading would give me only a shadow of the
knowledge and understanding to be found discussing it here."
But Merrill wanted to do that against a Catholic
background. "There's always some angle that people might
take in reading a book, and I wanted to do it at a place I
could trust. When I went to that Summer Program, the reality
of the place was overwhelming. 'Awesome' is the only word
I can think to use."
Merrill finished his senior year at Key West
High School, graduating as Salutatorian, and drawing acclamation
from his teachers who said that rarely have they had the opportunity
to teach such a talented student in so many areas. He starred
in several drama productions, sang in his school and parish
choir, and played on the varsity tennis team. Active in his
parish, he taught CCD for four years and was a lead altar
server.
Throughout his senior year, his heart was
still set on going to the College. "The way of learning
here excites and intrigues me; I don't believe I want to learn
any other way. The whole atmosphere is so conducive to the
nurturing of your intellectual and spiritual life. I had just
spent six weeks at FSU, and when I came here, I said, 'Yes!'
To take four years at the front end of my adult life and read
about all of the important things in life is exactly what
I want to do."
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