Located in Amherst Massachusetts, UMass provided me, as a South Windsor High School student, with an opportunity to visit their campus. The scenery on the drive was immediately breathtaking. It seemed as though the outside world disappeared. As we arrived at the campus, my group was approached by our tour guide, Alex, a junior attending UMass. He greeted us with a warm welcome and brought us to the entrance of the building. The environment was comfortable, as the tone was set with a coffee and food bar, giving students optimal resources to complete their work. 

“If you have a meal plan with the school then that will go towards your meals for those stations but, if not then they take regular cards like you would do normally,” Alex told The Prowl.

The main entrance building had a hotel on its higher floors, where parents would come to visit during “family weekend” or for graduation. In order to secure the hotel for graduations, families are required to book years in advance, which seems reasonable considering there are 23,000 undergraduate students alone. 

After moving through the main entrance, we walked to one of the classrooms. This classroom featured instructors informing students of the requirements needed to attend UMass. They also taught them how to achieve the requirements needed. There are 10 general education categories that are required when attending UMass, Journalism being one of them. 

A variety of courses are offered at UMass, making it an appealing school for high school graduates. If the UMass staff are unable to offer a course, they look to other schools for assistance in providing the courses, meaning you can still attend UMass by going through another college course they provide.

“There is a nursing school that is separate from the college itself, but included with the college courses,” expanded Alex. He then began to speak upon their student exchange program where they can go anywhere but Antarctica.

The tour guide then brought us to the dorms which were smaller than expected, considering the size of other college dorms. Those who are attending an honors college will live in the honors college dorms. Those dorms have special treatment and are the newest ones that have been built on campus. 

Our final destination was the cafeteria, which was an enjoyable experience because of the various food choices. When we got inside, it was like walking into a restaurant, ‘all you can eat’ style. There were a variety of different meal options, such as: pizza, burgers, rice, steak, rolls, and many many more delicious food options. I selected their pizza and fries with some ice cream as a dessert which was very good to say the least. 

As we left the campus, the South Windsor High School students recalled their time at UMass, many hoping to return soon from such an amazing experience.