Students from all corners of the state who aspire to become a part of the MSMS family gathered on campus this past Friday, Nov. 2, to attend the 2018 MSMS Fall Preview Day. Ranging from those as young as 8th graders to sophomores currently in the MSMS application process, the students caught a glimpse of what MSMS life is all about.

The purpose of Fall Preview Day is to give prospective students the rare opportunity to see what MSMS has to offer from an inside view. The students and parents had a chance to ask questions, tour the campus and get a taste of what the students might experience in the near future.

In preparation for the event, the MSMS emissaries, administration, outreach groups and admissions staff worked diligently to ensure that the students and parents would have the best experience possible. Each emissary was given a specific job, ranging from giving tours to answering various questions that students had.

Preview Day began with registration, which lasted from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. There, emissaries greeted the students and gathered information such as their name, grade, school and email.

As the students and their families were getting seated, they were entertained with an array of performances that showcased the diverse aspects of MSMS academic and student life.

Seniors Helen Peng and Victoria Gong informed the students and parents about Mrs. Richardson’s Creative Writing classes and read short stories and poems. Then, senior Erin Williams represented the social sciences by giving her Tales of the Crypt performance from last year. Hamilton Wan and Michelle Luo, two of the three Mu Alpha Theta presidents, gave a 10-minute interactive speech featuring interesting math topics. Finally, Voices in Harmony ended the performances by singing “Best Day of My Life.”

This was followed by an introduction by the MSMS Executive Director, Dr. Germain McConnell. Prospective students were informed about the admissions process and the MSMS expectations and goals. Afterwards, they separated into smaller groups and went on campus and facility tours, which were led by the emissaries.

“We tried to visit every MSMS building and give the parents as detailed of a tour as time allowed,” said emissary Edith Marie Green. “I think our tour went really well. The parents thanked us afterwards and seemed to like campus.”

Meanwhile, the prospective students were granted the opportunity to ask a student panel questions to get their perspectives about student life, sports, residential life and academics. The students who were panelists were Samantha Anderson, Lane Hughes, Lori Feng, Madison Wypyski and Ezra McWilliams.

Because they wanted to ensure that it was free of parental pressures, parents were not included in this part of the program; therefore, it gave students the chance to ask questions that were specific to them.

“The sophomores seemed really inquisitive about the school, and I think it’ll be a good group, “ said emissary and panelist Lane Hughes.

After the regularly scheduled activities were over, a special Tales performance was held at Friendship Cemetery. About 30 currents students and 20 prospective students, family and staff attended to see six of last year’s chosen performers.

“It was a nice addition to preview day,” said Tales director Mr. Chuck Yarborough. “I was impressed that Tales students wanted to offer the performance as yet another community service, and it was nice to share one of our nationally recognized award-winning programs with prospects.”

The idea was proposed by senior Kaelon McNeece. After they’d put together a smaller version of the performance last month for a conference that came through Columbus, McNeece thought that it would be good idea to do something similar for Fall Preview Day.

“I wanted to bring Tales back for Fall Preview Day to give prospective MSMS students an idea of what Tales is really like,” McNeece said. “I also wanted to give current Tales students some ideas for how to formulate their own performance such as how to incorporate their environment into their monologue and how to address the audience.”

Senior Jilkiah Bryant saw Preview Day as a reminder of an impending reality. “It was a really interactive process to get to meet the possible future of MSMS, especially from a senior perspective. It’s bittersweet to know that I will be graduating soon and leaving a place that has gifted me with so much opportunity,” Bryant explained. “However, seeing the excited faces today made the feeling less bittersweet!”

Fall Preview Day gave current sophomores the enlightenment they needed in order to be encouraged to start or even finish their applications, which are due Friday, February 1, 2019.