Austin Panchot and Cody Jewett arrived on campus a few days prior to the start of the spring semester after choosing to graduate high school a semester early.
“For me it would be a big head start of academics as well as athletics, so I’d get acclimated to the level of play with the team a lot quicker as well as getting some credits under my belt and getting started towards my degree,” Panchot said.
Most students have an extensive orientation in the summer before arriving to a week’s worth of welcoming activities.
Panchot, from St. Louis, and Jewett, from Seattle, had only a few days before the start of classes to adjust to college.
Arriving on a campus of 40,000 undergrads can be a bit daunting.
It would be easy to become intimidated amongst thousands of strangers who all seem to know what they’re doing.
Panchot is choosing to look at it a bit differently.
“The good part about coming in midyear is that normally when you ask freshman they wouldn’t know where to go,” Panchot said. “But now that they have a semester under their belt, they have an answer for me.”
Something else different about the beginnings of Panchot and Jewett’s collegiate careers is the support system they have.
Most students have a small sect of people they may know from high school, but mostly it’s a sea of new faces who might be just as anxious about meeting new people.
But Panchot and Jewett are walking into a close family of 24, all eager to welcome the duo into the fold. While neither Panchot or Jewett live with any current players, they both live in Briscoe just a floor away from other freshmen on the team.
“The guys are always close by,” Panchot said. “I get to ride to practice with them still and they’re all just a floor away.”
Arriving a semester early allows Panchot and Jewett to get a head start academically and become more comfortable taking college level classes before the season begins in the fall.
It also enables the two to start building relationships with current players and coaches, as well as familiarizing themselves with the differences between playing soccer in high school and college.
And at least for Panchot, the process of graduating early wasn’t all too difficult. He said he only needed to double up on English credits last semester because he went to a ?public school.
Panchot was offered a scholarship to play soccer at IU early in his junior year, he said, and began to think about graduating a semester early almost immediately after.
He said he was ready for the change and that even after only a week in Bloomington he’s happy with his decision.
One of the things Panchot said he is happiest with is the possibility of having an immediate effect on the team next fall. He received his eligibility before classes began, meaning he could start participating in practices as soon as he arrived on campus.
“I think I’ll definitely be able to step in and help out the team next fall,” Panchot said. “I’m planning on that so that’ll be my goal.”
