<p class="p1">Pencils. Index cards. Sticky notes. Day planner. Those are just some of the essentials inside the Sowela Technical Community College survival kits handed out Tuesday to new and returning students. </p><p class="p1">“It’s just some small things the students may utilize when they are in class; just something to get them started,” said Stephanie Strobe, a student life coordinator. “We just wanted to give them something to get them excited and give them a kick-start to the semester.”</p><p class="p1">The kits were handed out in the new Sycamore Student Center, which opened Monday and houses the registrar, admissions and financial aid offices; a bookstore; complimentary phone-charging stations; study areas; and a cafe. </p><p class="p1">Third-semester nursing students Shayna Miller and Alana Peden spent time between classes in the Sycamore center on Tuesday, their second day of the fall semester. </p><p class="p1">“We’ve got our first test Friday,” Miller said. “We’re just hoping to get through it because it’s a lot.”</p><p class="p1">Miller said the pair, who will graduate next semester, chose Sowela because of its smaller class size offerings.</p><p class="p1">“The administrators are so nice here,” Peden said. “There’s a lot of one-on-one time and if we were to go to a bigger school, you really don’t have that one-on-one opportunity with the teachers. We have that personal relationship with our teachers.”</p><p class="p1">Miller agreed.</p><p class="p1">“Every teacher knows your know name and if you don’t do well on a test they motivate you to do better,” she said. </p><p class="p1">Chauncey Matthews, an aviation major, said the aircraft program and the environment at Sowela are what attracted him to the school. “I’m hoping to get my studies done, finally graduate and get a job,” said the second-year student.</p><p class="p1">Aaron Malone is starting his first semester at the school. “My first semester is going really well,” said the culinary major.  Malone said his schedule is filled with culinary math, introduction to culinary principals, and sanitation and safety.</p><p class="p1">“I’m hoping to develop my skills this year,” he said. “Friends and family (recommended the school) but mainly I chose Sowela because it has a great program here.”</p><p>Survival kits of school essentials were distributed to students Tuesday at Sowela Technical Community College as a way of helping them kick-start the fall semester. (Rick Hickman/American Press)</p>