As Fall Break draws near, students will see more and more Facebook statuses counting down the days until everyone can return to their respective hometowns. But for some University students, home is only a couple of streets away, just on the other side of Barracks Road Shopping Center.
There are currently 322 undergraduate students who hail from Albemarle County and 213 undergraduates who call Charlottesville home year-round. In total, 3.74 percent of the 14,297 undergraduates enrolled for the 2009-10 academic year attended college in the same town where they went to high school.
But deciding whether to stay in their hometowns and forego the typical college journey can be a tough decision for local students.
"I was on the fence about [going to college in Charlottesville] because I wanted to branch out and go to school with people I didn't know," said second-year College student Rachel Hopkins, a 2009 graduate of Albemarle High School. "But I got to thinking and realized it was silly to pass up such a great university just because I live here."
Feeding in from the Charlottesville area are 28 first-year students who graduated from Albemarle High School, seven who graduated from Monticello High School, 17 from Western Albemarle High School, eight from Charlottesville High school, four from Covenant School and nine who graduated from St. Anne's-Belfield.
Staying in one's hometown might seem to make the transition to college life easier for these students, but this isn't necessarily the case.
"The first couple of weeks were hard for me because I was used to going around Charlottesville and doing things like eating at Chipotle with my high-school friends; It was weird to have my high-school friends be gone and still be in the same place," said first-year College student Chaney Detmer, a 2010 graduate of St. Anne's-Belfield School.
On the other hand, going to high school in Charlottesville does have its advantages, as students are already exposed to some aspects of University life simply because they have been immersed in the local culture.
"Growing up in Charlottesville, you pick up a lot of information about the University and Thomas Jefferson," said first-year College student Neil Branch, who graduated from Western Albermarle High School last spring and attended University football games prior to enrolling here. "Knowing the opportunities that are in Charlottesville, I am less restricted to Grounds than some may feel because I know of other things to do that aren't associated with U.Va., such as the festivals Charlottesville has [to offer]."
The move-in process is also much easier for these students. If they forget something, it is not a big deal to drive - or even bike - home to retrieve the item, where there is also a free laundromat.\n"If I bike home, it's probably about 10 minutes, so I go home to see my dog and do my laundry every weekend because it's easier than doing my laundry on Grounds where I have to pay," said first-year Engineering student Harrison Brookemann, who went to Charlottesville High School.
With parents so close by, one of the most common questions hometown students are asked is how often they go home. But as easy as it may be to go home to pick up a forgotten item or do laundry, most students said they tend to stay on Grounds.
"My parents insisted I have a real college experience and they are treating [the situation] as if I was away at school," Detmer said. "I never go home and stay over, but on my sister's first day of school, I went home and went out to dinner with them, which makes adjusting less difficult."
Hopkins echoed this sentiment. "[My parents] didn't set any explicit boundaries, but they kind of let me be as involved with them as I wanted to be," she said, adding she thinks "they have done a good job at not overstepping their boundaries as college parents."
Nevertheless, having her parents nearby in case she ever needs anything is convenient. When she developed swine flu-like symptoms last year, her mother was able to take her to the doctor, whereas most students would only have the option of going to Student Health.
Most of the time, however, there is a clear line of demarcation between student life at the University and life as a high-school student.
"There are two different Charlottesvilles," said second-year College student Jeb Byrne of St. Anne's-Belfield School. "There is a dichotomy of on-Grounds and off-Grounds, and before I came here I didn't have an on-Grounds life."
Most University students, for instance, do not go past Barracks Road Shopping Center. As a result, hometown students may find the separation of home life and school life in Charlottesville to be a little bit easier.
"I live farther up [Route] 29, so where I would hang out in high school is different because we wouldn't come down to the Corner or go downtown," Hopkins said.
That separation existed even when Brookeman worked in one of the University's electrical engineering labs to get a feel for what the Engineering School was like, while Hopkins sometimes did research projects at libraries on Grounds. Being a University student is different, Hopkins said, because before enrolling here they "weren't interacting with college kids as a high-school student."
And even though these students may have a leg up on being able to locate buildings on Grounds thanks to their prior exposure, some still opt to take the official admissions tour and do research just like students coming from out of town.
"I knew things like where Edgar Allen Poe's room was but in terms of what you do academically, I didn't know as much until I did the research," Branch said. On the other hand, Byrne decided to chose to forego the admissions tour because he thought he knew enough about the University already, while Brookeman limited himself to touring the Engineering School.
At the end of the day, no matter how much familiarity hometown students have with the University before enrolling, going to school in their hometown does not mean they are going to school at home.
"U.Va. is its own city within Charlottesville," Detmer said, adding that he would tell next year's incoming first-year students "not to get caught up in their old life and not to even think they are still in Charlottesville because you might as well not be since U.Va. is its own community"
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