Graduating

By JOANN JONES
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
T WAS SEPTEMBER, EARLY IN THE SCHOOL year, and Mount Union College freshman Jean McKay of Sharon felt a need to change her appearance, to express herself.
So she pierced her ears.
At winter break, she arrived home, timidly approaching her parents who, after their initial shock, got over their 18-year-old's defiant behavior of piercing her ears without their permission.
Twenty-seven years later she laughs at her modest self-expression, knowing what today's college students do when they get the opportunity to change that old high school image and "walk on the wild side." Belly button, nose and tongue rings, as well as tattoos and unusual hair color are today's means of expression for most college freshmen and sophomores.
Different appearance
Kandace Snyder, who started classes at Kent State University last week, said she made some big changes in her appearance before she left for school.
"I got my hair cut short, dyed my hair blond and red, and got my belly button pierced," Snyder said. "I did it with my best friend, and because we had had to wait so long to turn 18 in May, we decided to do something to celebrate it."
Snyder said most of her high school friends didn't expect her to change her appearance so drastically. The cross country and track runner, who also was in National Honor Society and choir, labeled herself as pretty conservative. Snyder, who said she is looking forward to "the whole college experience," said she'd also like to try something new at Kent, perhaps intramural broom ball. Yet, she said academics are still a top priority for her.
"I have to get a 3.0 in order to keep my scholarship," she said, "and to get accepted into the program for early childhood education. I'll have to turn down people who want me to party if it's time to study."
Time for change
Another student who did an about-face and made major changes in his appearance during his freshman year at Ohio University was Greg Potter. President of NHS and a member of the band while in high school, Potter said people viewed him as "preppy" with his military haircut and clothes he usually bought at the Gap and American Eagle. He did, however, have one ear pierced.
"In high school I wouldn't do anything that would make people talk," he said. "I knew, though, that I wasn't in high school anymore."
When he left for college last fall, he pierced his other ear and started letting his hair grow, not getting a haircut until January. He had also decided to stop getting it highlighted, making it a deeper brown. And he began to wear more loose clothing and concert shirts, showcasing the musicians he loves to watch perform.
His love for music really changed his personality when he went to college, he said.
"I had always written my own songs -- music and lyrics -- but when I got to OU, I started going to coffee houses," Potter said. "My friends urged me to perform, too, so now I take my acoustic guitar and sing."
Potter laughs at the quantum leap he took from high school to college. "When I was a junior, the music directors had to beg me to take the part of the scarecrow in 'The Wizard of Oz.' It was horrible, not a fun time. Now I'm taking my guitar and singing in front of people."
Different experience
Kim Brunie, one of Potter's high school classmates and good friends, also went to OU, where the two of them tried to make extra effort to stay in touch and lean on one another. Brunie, however, said it was too hard for them to get together much.
"Greg and I lived at opposite ends of the campus, had different majors and didn't hang out with the same people," she said. "It was hard for both of us to be self-confident when we had to make friends all over."
Brunie said she liked the changes Potter made in himself. "Greg was always worried about what his friends thought. He thought we wouldn't approve of his music. But at OU he finally felt he was allowed to do what he wanted. He found a group of friends who would go with him and do what he wanted."
Brunie herself didn't change much, although she did go on a belly-button piercing adventure with her new friends last fall.
"One of my girlfriends and I had already talked about it [piercing their belly buttons], and two had already done it," she said. "So one day four of us piled into a conversion van and went to the local tattoo parlor where we had our belly buttons pierced. Then I had to hide it from Mom and Dad for six months."
Brunie also felt the pressure to maintain her high school weight to fight the famous "Freshman 15" to keep her high school image intact. "When you have an all-you-can-eat buffet, it's hard not to put weight on. I had to adjust to not playing sports, too, and I knew people back home would be watching me after a year.
"Wouldn't you know it? Someone said to me this summer, 'You look good. You didn't gain the "Freshman 15.'"
No change
Lindsie Vuglaze, a Youngstown State University freshman who attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Louisville, is similar to Brunie in that she doesn't feel as if going to college will make her want to change her appearance and her personality.
"I know things are different, and I'll try not to take things for granted, because it was easy for me in high school," she said. "I'll get involved in activities at YSU, but I still want to stay close to my family. I'll probably go home every weekend, even if it's for only part of a day."
Vuglaze, who played basketball and softball and was secretary of the Key Club and Pep Club, is looking forward to one major change, however.
"At least I won't have to wear a uniform. That will be nice," she said.