Orientation Welcomes New Students

A regular customer at the Holiday Deli & Ham restaurant in Memphis, Ben Erickson and family members often heard Don “Papa” Jordan’s stories about his alma mater, Mississippi College.

After listening to so many MC sales pitches, Erickson, 21, and a couple of friends did a little more research and drove nearly four hours to see the Christian university in Clinton.

The Memphis native really liked the campus, the metro Jackson area, Mississippi College’s strong academic programs and the Choctaws football team. As a result, Erickson transferred from Union University in Tennessee and can’t wait to begin MC classes as an English major in late August.

Erickson was among hundreds of new students and parents welcomed at a July  12 transfer orientation. A huge fan of Papa Jordan’s classic pimento cheese sandwiches, Erickson plans to return home to eat more meals at the popular Memphis restaurant sometime this fall. He expects to update Jordan, a 1951 MC graduate, about his college experiences in Clinton.

At Thursday's orientation, MC newcomers learned about everything from residence hall life to the university’s academic strengths, social clubs, athletic teams and career services office. They made new friends along the way.

Some, like Josh Prochotsky, 20, of Chicago, discovered Mississippi College on-line, and the more they found out, the better it all sounded.

Prochotsky and his friend, Brad Martin, 20, both transferred from the College of Lake County in Illinois, and now plan to play for the Choctaws baseball team.

Playing catcher for the Choctaws isn’t the only reason Josh decided to leave the Windy City to earn a college diploma in the Magnolia State. He’s impressed with the university’s nursing program and says “MC being a Christian university was important to my decision.”

Walking along the Quad to another orientation event, Maggie Holt said she transferred to Mississippi College because she likes its smaller classes. The largest private university in Mississippi, MC enrolls nearly 5,300 students. The West, Mississippi resident will pursue an education degree.

Addressing hundreds of students and parents at an afternoon session in Anderson Hall, MC senior Allison Morris says she quickly felt at home at the Baptist-affiliated school after transferring a couple of years ago.

At a much bigger university, “I felt lost in the crowd,”  Morris said. MC got her connected with people through her faith, and she discovered others on the Clinton campus “who want you to do well.”

Some of the new students come from other lands thousands of miles away from Central Mississippi. MC enrolls nearly 300 international students from 23 nations. Mississippi College “is one of the best for my major,” says Maryann Nemati, a native of Iran. A transfer student from Holmes Community College, she will study biochemistry at MC.

For more information, contact the Mississippi College admissions office at 601-925-3800 or www.mc.edu