The Adult Students used to be isolated on an asphalt campus in downtown Greensboro. That is history and now, we who are over the magical age of 23, walk the brick sidewalks, sit under the shade trees, enjoy the lake, the meadow, and share the classroom with those of you under the age of 23. Since I arrived at Guilford, I have heard that Traditional Students don’t like CCE Students sharing “their” campus, but personally, I’ve never gotten that vibe. It seemed to me that this “Great Divide” might be an “urban legend.”

I decided to go out and talk to a lot of Traditional Students around campus about how they feel about CCE Students sharing the campus.

Not one of the people I talked to had any hate or “go home” comments and 99.9% of what you said was all positive. I had a couple of observations about the differences between Traditional and CCE Students that I might stipulate as negative, hence the tenth of percent away from being a 100% positive report.

Most of the comments that I received went something like this, “CCE Students? I think they are great.” “What’s the big deal? I don’t really think about it.” “I don’t care who comes to school here.”

Here are some of the more specific comments from Traditional Students (and even one Early College student that I thought was a Traditional Student):

“I am a Business Major and so I take a lot of night classes with CCE Students. When you share the classroom with CCE Students, you get real world experience, not just teaching from the professor. They give us good advice from their own experiences.” Janell Henry (Junior)

“They are a student and I don’t see them as any different. They don’t cut up in class because they are there because they want to be there. They bring something positive to the campus.” Megan Chery (Early College, Junior)

“They add more experience to the learning. I was a Psychology Major and saw that the CCE Students bring a view that we don’t have because they have experienced the real world. CCE Students are more practical and more focused.” Jada Drew (Class of ’07)

“I am an English Major and I have found that the CCE Students have a harder time keeping it in the theoretical realm. They want to apply everything to everyday life rather than keeping it in theory. “Annastasia Smith (Senior)

“I think CCE Students are great. I had a class with one lady who is 40 and old enough to be my mom and it was pretty fun. They work just as hard as we do and I think it is pretty amazing that they have come back. I respect them and they deserve to be here as much as me, and hopefully I’ll be on the stage with them in four years.” Reggie Pettiford (First-year)

“I have a lot of classes with them and a couple of them have even had to bring their kids into class. They didn’t disrupt the class. I have even made friends with some of the CCE Students and I like the older perspective. Just because the label exists for financial reasons, the category isn’t necessary. Both groups tend to generalize about each other, but there is diversity within each.” Katherine Rossini (Senior)

“I know a single mom who wasn’t 23 yet and wanted to qualify for the CCE Student rate, because she was supporting herself and her baby, but because she was a Traditional Freshman she didn’t qualify. I think the classification should be based on circumstance rather than age.” Bailey Arnold (Junior)

I know there are some underlying negative opinions out there, but I guess those people made sure they avoided me or maybe their negative vibes kept me from stopping and asking them any questions. I couldn’t include all the names of the men and women who stopped and gave me their opinion, but thanks for chatting. It was fun listening to you share your experiences.

If you have an opinion you’d like to share, e-mail them to [email protected].