Commencement 2014 Study Buddies are Philly's Hot New Power Couples

PHILADELPHIA, April 17, 2014—Maria Morrero and Vincent Ancona learned together, traveled together, and even cried together as study partners in the Liberal Arts Honors Program at Community College of Philadelphia.

“We’d spend anywhere from a few days to a week at each other’s houses studying,” Vincent said recently. Maria added, “We became intellectual comrades in the Honors Program because we were fighting for each other.”

The College’s May 3 commencement marks a bittersweet turning point that will determine whether the peer support system they fostered can withstand the weight of time and success. Both students are scheduled to receive their associate’s degrees during the  48th commencement, which begins at 10 a.m. at Temple University’s Liacouras Center, 1776 North Broad Street. Jotaka Eaddy, Senior Director for Voting Rights and Senior Advisor to the President and CEO of the NAACP, will be the commencement speaker.

Maria already has started taking her classes at Bryn Mawr College where she’s majoring in cultural anthropology with a sociology minor. Vincent plans to study positive psychology, at either Bucknell University or the University of Pennsylvania. Both aspire to earn doctoral degrees, and begin careers as research professors.

After a chance meeting on campus, this duo recognized a shared interest: They were more effective, and better scholars when they studied together and collaborated. As study-buddies they found the courage to soldier on through tough assignments, received the benefit of a differing point of view, and were comforted by the knowledge that they weren’t facing scholarly challenges alone. Maria said, “What’s really important is that you have someone who respects you as a colleague, can grab your hand and say ‘You’re doing good work’.” Vincent added, “It solidifies you. You feel that you are not the only one in this program who feels that he’s getting a little lost.”

Study buddies are popping up on college campuses nationwide. Sometimes, the students find one another naturally, as Vince and Maria did. Other times they are matched. The College recently began Colonial Colleagues, which is the study buddy system formalized.  It seeks to foster a collegial relationship between students who both give and receive support from each other and meet once a month to celebrate successes. “Peers give us something that no one else can. They share the experiences that we are currently undergoing. There is a bond that can happen between college students that can help them persist in their education,” said Lynne Sutherland, Ph.D., Director of Student Success Initiatives at the College.

It worked well for Vincent and Maria who recommend that all college freshmen find partners, and develop personal learning communities as well.  “If you’re not in a study group, and you’re not working with people, and you’re not working together, then you’re doing something wrong,” he said.

Maria is attending Bryn Mawr as a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow. She studies often with her colleagues there, but she says it’s impossible to replicate the partnership she had with Vincent at Community College of Philadelphia. “He’s a soul friend and I haven’t been able to find any other person who I can connect with as meaningfully as him,” Maria said.

Vincent visits her at the private liberal arts college on weekends. They are looking toward an academic future where her anthropology research and his positive psychology studies will dovetail. “We’re trying to align our research and our graduate study. We want to see where anthropology and psychology meet. We’re still inspiring each other,” Vincent said.

They intend to finish their remarkable Community College of Philadelphia experience the same way they traversed it – together.