Visitor meets warm welcome at Drew

Not many students at Drew are aware that there are usually around 35 students in the Special and Visiting Student Program at Drew University.

Visiting students take classes at Drew for a host of reasons. Some take courses whose credit they will transfer to their home college or university, others wish to get acquainted with college life before committing to a degree program and others want to take classes in preparation for a new career or advanced degree work.

This year, I had the privilege of attending Drew, which always remained one of my top choices throughout the college search. For these past two semesters, I was able to take a peek at what life I could have forged and the friendships I could have made as a Drew student.

There's something special about Drew. Is it the friendly faculty, the great theatre program, the interesting classes, the beautiful campus or the amicable student body, or is it more? There's warmth at Drew that you won't find on many other college campuses. My two semesters here have introduced me to people to whom I immediately connected. I never thought that I would make so many friends in such little time.

My high school Latin teacher and one of my mom's closest friends are also Drew alumni, and they are two of the kindest people I know. So what's the deal? From friendly hellos to explaining assignments, to avidly listening to others' comments in class, to simply holding doors, to complimenting fellow classmates on their work, people at Drew consistently place others before themselves.

So thanks Drew, for restoring my faith in a generation that seems to have become too self-consumed and competitive to lend a hand to someone in need or manage to smile at passing faces.

Drew is a package. The people here have shown me that quality education and compassion can go hand and hand.

Now that I have left campus, I reminisce on all that I've learned on Madison Avenue, comforted to know that the wonderful students at Drew will be out there somewhere, making the world a better place.

I'll know that when I graduate from my home college in a few years, I will enter a world full of the wonderful people who have made Drew part of their lives and helped to shape it into such an admirable institution.

I'm glad to know that the wonderful students at Drew will always be part of my world.

Clare Mullaney is a junior at Bryn Mawr College.