Akash Manickam: What’s different between St. Mark’s and college?
Luke Noack: It’s a lot more on the student to reach out to the professors, whereas at St. Mark’s, the teachers do a pretty good job of staying involved in a student’s life and asking them if they think someone might be struggling. In college, it’s all on you. Your teachers will let you fall behind if you’re not actively seeking help.
AM: How did you adjust to college life, especially in those first few months?
LN: It was tough just because I’m in the unique position of also playing a fall sport. The biggest struggle for me was managing my time, but I think St. Mark’s did a really good job preparing me for that. It gave me a good foundation for coming in here and having to balance practices with all this homework.
AM: When you got to college, who or what helped you the most?
LN: I would say my teammates just because the upperclassmen do a super good job of making sure all the freshmen know the ropes, the tricks to succeeding academically and the do’s and don’ts.
AM: What’s your favorite part about college so far?
LN: I enjoy the freedom of it. I definitely feel a lot more independent. There’s a lot of decisions that are mine to make now. I can pick classes that I’m interested in, and there’s a lot less requirements for what I have to take.
AM: What do you miss about St Mark’s?
LN: I definitely miss the culture of how tightly-knit everyone is. I would say I was friends with everyone there, and that was really nice. If I walked into a room at St. Mark’s, there’s a 99 percent chance someone in there was going to be my friend, and I really liked that.
