COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Do you remember the moment you walked into your college dorm for the first time as a freshman?
I remember it taking some time to get accustomed to dorm life my freshman year.
At Tennessee Tech, students have been tasked with an important project.
These students had six weeks to give the residence halls a dorm makeover.
They had to come up with a plan to re-model, but of course students will be able to decorate to their liking. The students tasked with this project are in the School of Human Ecology, but they had a vision to what might be realistic to incoming freshmen.
They had to stick to a budget and deadlines. In that time frame, they had to order furniture and follow the logistical planning schedule. Simply put — if it happens in the real world, they had to do the same for this project.
"Going beyond the classroom, trying to get them some real world applications, trying to get projects so that they can bridge that gap between the academic and the real world," said Aeric Gunnels, one of the faculty members who led students through this project.
The hope is projects like these will help students build their portfolios for the next step in their careers.
Do you have a story you'd like to share for Take Time to Smile? You can email me at Austin.Pollack@newschannel5.com.
There are still so many families in East Tennessee hurting following the floods from Hurricane Helene in September. That made this year's running of the Santa Train extra special for many families in the northeast part of the state. This special Santa Express has been making an annual run in part of Appalachia for over 80 years.
-Lelan Statom