When Christina Huffaker ‘13 first entered Le Moyne as a college freshman, she felt the typical nerves of any incoming student: what will my classes be like? How will I fit in? Will I make friends easily? But for Christina, her worries and anxieties were amplified. Homeschooled for almost her entire life, she was about to embark on a daunting new journey.
“I had no idea what to expect, and I was much more intimidated than I needed to be,” says Christina. She found that the transition was made easier by Le Moyne’s welcoming community. “Le Moyne made it a nice, cozy adjustment,” she says. “Because it’s small and kind, it’s easy to get involved.”
What she didn’t yet know was that her three younger siblings—Thomas, Michelle and Stephen—would all one day be attending Le Moyne as well. They too would have to make the adjustment from homeschooling to an institutional education.
Michelle Huffaker ‘20, a senior accounting student, started at Le Moyne three years after her sister Christina graduated. But she had something that Christina did not: guidance from someone who attended the school before her. “My expectations were exactly what Christina told me,” says Michelle. “Everyone is going to be really nice, and outside of your academics, it’s going to be a good, fun experience.”
The transition was the freshest for Stephen Huffaker ‘23, a first-year English and communications dual major. “Beginning an institutional education was probably one of the most major adjustments that I’ve had to make in my life so far,” he says. “But it helped me get used to adapting to situations.”
For Thomas Huffaker, the experience was a little different. Having completed his undergraduate degree at SUNY Oswego, Thomas came to Le Moyne this past fall as a graduate student earning his master's degree in information systems. An IT manager, Thomas notes that at his current job, most of the people he works with had graduated from Le Moyne. “I joined the club,” he laughs, adding, ”But I think it’s definitely going to be helpful in furthering my career.”
While each of the Huffakers found a different niche within their respective majors and interests, Stephen, Michelle and Christina all share similar experiences within Le Moyne’s Integral Honors Program. Christina, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English, knew as a freshman that she wanted to continue onto graduate school to become a librarian. “I knew particularly that [the Honors Program] was going to be helpful and be a really good way to encounter the liberal arts and the general interdisciplinarity that Le Moyne does very well,” she says.
Michelle also found herself drawn to the emphasis on interdisciplinarity that the Honors Program has to offer, though for different reasons. “Even though I’m in accounting, I still like the liberal arts,” says Michelle. “I like religious studies, I like English, so it was nice to mix it up and have a lot of focus on multiple disciplines.”
The discussion-based Honors classes, combined with the program’s small class size, helped to make the transition from homeschooling to college easier. For Stephen, the Honors lounge was important as well. As a commuter, he finds that having an academically-focused space on campus, surrounded by other Honors students, is invaluable.
Though Stephen, Michelle, Thomas, and Christina have experienced different aspects of the College, they all agree that love for Le Moyne is abundant, both on- and off-campus. “Being a Le Moyne student has been really great for finding internships and professional positions and making professional connections,” says Michelle. “Because alumni love Le Moyne so much, it’s really helped my career path … Le Moyne has been a good place to develop professionally.”
Christina puts it simply: “When you step off-campus and utter the words, ‘Le Moyne,’ people flock to you and hug you … They just start screaming with enthusiasm. I hadn’t seen that happen before I came here, and then it happened, and then I understood why it was happening.” Her journey has come full-circle, as she adds, “Now I’ve become one of them.”