Students take on ‘Townie Summer’

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Each year, as finals week comes to a close, many students say goodbye to Harrisonburg and the JMU campus to pursue their summer plans from wherever they call home. But that isn’t the case for all students.

Perhaps the lease on their off-campus housing carries over to June or July, or a local internship opportunity, summer course or on-campus job inspires them to stick around.

These Dukes experience what’s known as a “Townie Summer.”

Campus isn’t the ghost town you might think. Though the density of people milling about the Quad and Warner Commons decreases significantly, campus favorites like D-Hall and the University Recreation Center remain open with adjusted hours.

For some JMU student employees, the summer months are a time for stepping into new roles and responsibilities. 

Rising senior Kate Terry was recently hired as an operations supervisor at UREC and plans to use her time over the summer to get comfortable in the new role.

“Going from a recreation manager to an operations supervisor is a big jump, so I wanted to use the summer as a transition period,” Terry said. “I worked at UREC last summer as well, and I knew it would give me time to make new connections with coworkers and ease into this new leadership role.”

Terry says her work over the summer sets her up for success once the school year begins. “The beginning of the fall semester can get very chaotic with training, working with a new team and just the business that a new school year brings,” she said. “Summer has given me time to learn the ropes with my new role, so that I can be prepared when the fall comes around.”

A summer in the ’Burg without the school-year crowds can be a rewarding experience. For Dukes taking classes, it's a way to catch up or get ahead on credits. For others, it's a summer job that keeps them close to their JMU home.

Some Student Ambassadors, like rising senior Andrew Coates, stay over the summer to give tours to prospective students and their families. “I already really enjoy giving tours as a volunteer,” he said, “so I figured, why not get paid to do it over the summer?”

Coates says the most difficult part of selling JMU during the summer months is that visitors can’t witness a typical day on campus. But the beauty of the surroundings and the warm atmosphere of the Friendly City certainly helps.

Rising senior Sam Ramano is enrolled in a four-week anatomy course taught by professors Patrick Kilkenny and Bryan Cage.

“A huge benefit is that it is accelerated and straight to the point,” Ramano said. “It is typically a really hard class to take at JMU, but the summer course is much smaller and offers more one-on-one time to get help from the professors.”

Ramano is loving the small-school environment.

“Campus life is wonderful,” she said. “I love having no one here. Construction makes it kind of noisy, but peoplewise, it’s empty and it’s awesome.”