Students from large families adjust differently than those from smaller
Joy Pavelski
Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: Focus
Susan frequently calls her sister, Jaimie, after breakfast, during class and while Jaimie walks back to her room at Olds Residence.
"Living in a large family gives you the ability, when you go into the real world, to interact with a lot of people," freshman Jaimie Conley said. "And you also know that your family will always be there for you."
Conley has six younger siblings, Susan her youngest. As of the year 2000, the average family in the United States held 3.14 persons, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Large families grew in number at the turn of the century, but are now an anomaly, found only in populace pockets like homeschoolers and immigrants.
Students from large families compose the stuff of minor campus legends at Hillsdale College as their last name becomes ubiquitous, a permanent fixture like Central Hall.
Large families tend toward intimacy, an attitude continued when their children attend a small college.
"If [Jaimie] had gone to a big university, she would have been able to skip beginner [Latin], but at Hillsdale, she's been able to discuss things with professors more," said Patsy Conley, Jaimie's mother. "At Hillsdale she was personally treated and individually assessed. Every time you talk to her, she's happy as a clam."
Sophomore Abby Ashmore is the fourth child in her family to attend Hillsdale. She is a middle child, with two older sisters, two older brothers, two younger brothers and three younger sisters, and always eager to talk about them, she said.
Ashmore said she likes being a middle child because she is the oldest of the younger children in her family and the youngest of the older children. She described, with an amused smile, how her oldest brother has a baby book filled with pictures and clippings.
Her next oldest sibling, a sister, has a mostly finished baby book. The two brothers after that, she said, have at best a few pictures. She and Anna, next in the lineup, are lucky for baby pictures at all.
"Living in a large family gives you the ability, when you go into the real world, to interact with a lot of people," freshman Jaimie Conley said. "And you also know that your family will always be there for you."
Conley has six younger siblings, Susan her youngest. As of the year 2000, the average family in the United States held 3.14 persons, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Large families grew in number at the turn of the century, but are now an anomaly, found only in populace pockets like homeschoolers and immigrants.
Students from large families compose the stuff of minor campus legends at Hillsdale College as their last name becomes ubiquitous, a permanent fixture like Central Hall.
Large families tend toward intimacy, an attitude continued when their children attend a small college.
"If [Jaimie] had gone to a big university, she would have been able to skip beginner [Latin], but at Hillsdale, she's been able to discuss things with professors more," said Patsy Conley, Jaimie's mother. "At Hillsdale she was personally treated and individually assessed. Every time you talk to her, she's happy as a clam."
Sophomore Abby Ashmore is the fourth child in her family to attend Hillsdale. She is a middle child, with two older sisters, two older brothers, two younger brothers and three younger sisters, and always eager to talk about them, she said.
Ashmore said she likes being a middle child because she is the oldest of the younger children in her family and the youngest of the older children. She described, with an amused smile, how her oldest brother has a baby book filled with pictures and clippings.
Her next oldest sibling, a sister, has a mostly finished baby book. The two brothers after that, she said, have at best a few pictures. She and Anna, next in the lineup, are lucky for baby pictures at all.
Be the first to comment on this story