The transformation from freshman to senior can be a dramatic. An incoming freshman can go from feeling like the top dog in high school to the new puppy on the block, while a senior prepares to be thrust into the world after finally becoming comfortable in college.  Terrence Diable, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’15, and Claire Michel, FCLC ’12, show us how different the two really can be. So read on, fellow freshmen and seniors, and any of you that fall in between, as the dawn turns to dusk.

Terrence Diable
Year: FCLC’ 15
Major: Dance BFA
Hometown: New York City
Current Residence: New York City

Why did you choose Fordham?

[It was an] Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and F.U. culmination. I’ve been with Alvin Ailey for the past three years in their Junior Division Program, an afterschool program for youth. And for their strong academics… Oh! No math!

Anything odd about your family or that sets them apart from other families?

My family is kind of artsy, we joke around. That’s probably why I got into the arts. They were musicians—I started out in music myself. It’s a positive relationship between my mother and father. I joke around all the time with my mother, but my dad is like a comedian, on the low.

Are you close to your family still?

Yes, very close, definitely. I’m a commuter so I live with them.

Compare being your old senior self in high school to your new freshman self.

Well I was like man on top. I worked for something that I thought was hard, but now that I look back it was easy. And then I came here and it’s like, oh shit. This is the real deal. At Fordham you’re the newbie and you’re fresh meat.

Do you get embarrassed easily?

Never been embarrassed, but in dance specifically you’re always in such a rush… I’ll forget my ballet shoes or my tights. And you’ll be like are you serious, now I have to sit out, then you get yelled at by the teacher and they’re like “Oh you should have packed the night before.”That’s kind of embarrassing.

Anything that you’ve experienced recently that you wouldn’t have dreamed of doing?

I took class led by Alissa Clark and Erika Pujic both graduates of Julliard that was pretty amazing.

What about when your dance career is over?

I would love to work with other dance companies just to see what their idea of dance is and different movement. I would love to choreograph, and of course, teach.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Claire Michel
Year: FCLC’ 12
Major: Natural Science
Hometown: Brooklyn
Current Residence: Brooklyn

Why did you choose Fordham?

I chose Fordham mainly because of its reputation and it was the best school I got into.

Are you still close, or as close with your family as when you started college?

Yes and no. I would say we now have a different relationship. My brother and I get along now for the first time. We’re five years apart. As for my parents and I, we are getting closer as they let go a little bit.

What is the biggest difference, you think, between a freshman and a senior?

Besides seniority, I would just say awareness. Freshman year you walk in with such confidence, only the college world is different from high school. The fact that everything you do counts for your professional life—as a freshman you know it, but as a senior it becomes a reality.

Most awkward moment in the past four years? 

My most awkward moment would be freshman year, I was in the cafeteria realized that we had to hand in a health insurance information sheet in two hours and my class started in 30 minutes. So I took the sheet and bolted out of the cafeteria [and] went through the one of the doors with an alarm. And everyone just stared at me when the alarm went off. My new friends at the time laughed at me for the rest of the day.

Anything that you have experienced in the past 5 years that you wouldn’t have done otherwise?

Rock climbing—I’m scared of heights. And Pinkberry—I just never liked buying expensive stuff, but this could be a treat once in a while

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Hopefully in medical school.