Fear of freshman year: New Cronkite undergrad broadcasts students' thoughts, insights

With move-in here at ASU, campus residence halls are welcoming more than 12,500 new students for the 2013-2014 academic year. Aaron Atchison, who graduated from Chicago’s Whitney Young High School, is one of those new students – and like many of his fellow Sun Devils, he’s both nervous and excited.

Atchison, who will be studying journalism and mass communication at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, used his journalistic talents to share those mixed feelings that he – and others he knows – are feeling, in a piece for his hometown radio station, WBEZ 91.5 Chicago, titled, “In their own words: fear of freshman year.”

“I know I’m not the only one buggin’ out,” Atchison said. “So I decided to check in with other folks my age who are in the same boat.” He sat down with a handful of classmates and fellow Chicagoans – students that will enter the freshman classes of several different universities nationwide, including Northwestern, Syracuse and the University of Pittsburgh – and asked them about what they were feeling.

Throughout his interviews, Atchison finds out that he’s not alone, as he talks to students that made some tough decisions – including one student’s choice to stay in his hometown and attend community college, and another freshman’s fears that she’ll struggle with college-level classes.

“I’m afraid to find out that I’m not as headstrong or independent as I think I am,” confesses Atchison. “But I know I need to get away.”

Check out Atchison's full interview on the WBEZ 91.5 site, at the link below.