Melbourne High

On Friday, November 22, 2024, juniors Renna Petrides and Gavin Merrell visited the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. They attended an in-person campus tour that was led by a couple of the students that are currently enrolled at the University of South Florida. The students were led by the tour guides around multiple buildings, including important places on campus, the dining hall, and some dorms. The tour ended at the Martin Luther King Plaza. “The campus was beautiful and the tour was very informational. I found out that applying to USF will be different for me than it would be for other students, as I’m currently doing dual enrollment, so the process is different,” said Petrides

Junior year is the time when a lot of students start touring colleges and thinking about applications, as people start submitting college applications early in senior year. “I found that it was incredible and it seemed so open, and I learned it was the best for the price,” said Merrell. Touring colleges allows for students to see which places would be the best for them, between the location, programs, and student life there. Petrides said, “I plan on applying to a couple colleges next year, USF is one of them.” Most incoming college students choose to have on-campus college housing rather than off-campus housing. Sometimes, students don't know what housing is like until their very first day at the school. “When I was there, I stayed the night in a dorm. It was really fun getting to stay in the college dorms with some of my friends and experiencing what it’s like there,” said Petrides.

The next day, Petrides and Merrell attended a football game for the USF Bulls at the Raymond James Stadium. The school doesn’t have their own football stadium, but they are working on it. The stadium will be done in the next couple of years. Petrides said, “The game was really fun. I’ve only been to one other college football game before, and it was really cool being at the Raymond James Stadium to watch the game.”