My first semester as a student at Trinity College has presented its fair share of challenges and victories, defining moments and shameful slip-ups. Yet, despite the multitude of late nights and “homework emergencies,” every second of this semester has brought me a step closer to satisfying my objective of developing a distinctive level of ambition and maturity. Whether one attends a large university or a small liberal arts college, every first-year student shares a similar objective. Andrew Roberts’ The Thinking Student’s Guide to College provides sufficient guidance in this regard. Complete with 75 tips concerning everything from choosing a major to exploring post-graduation options, Roberts’ Guide presents the anxious first-year student with everything he or she needs to know to enrich his or her academic experience at an undergraduate level.
Of the 75 tips, I found the most truth in Tip #48: “Ask for Help,” in which Roberts advises students to seek out extra help from professors, TAs, and campus tutoring programs. According to Roberts, “not only will you get help, but you will distinguish yourself as a student who cares about the class.”[1. Andrew Lawrence Roberts, The Thinking Student’s Guide to College: 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education (University of Chicago, 2010).] Coming from a highly competitive high school, asking for help was certainly not something I was comfortable doing. I was strongly opposed to the idea of “admitting defeat” by letting someone know I was having trouble understanding a concept. Asking for help was equal to owning up to a failure, an insufficiency, a defect. However, Trinity College’s small class sizes and slim student-to-teacher ratio guarantees that faculty will have the time and energy to assist students on a level that is far more intimate and thorough than faculty at larger institutions.
My perspective changed this past semester, after taking an educational studies course. With a little over twelve hours left until my first paper of the semester was due and no solid strategy for how to tackle it, I reluctantly attended a session with one of my TA’s. She let me do all the talking at first, asking me about what ideas I was considering including in my paper, in no particular order. After listening patiently to my jumble of thoughts, she asked me follow-up questions like, “Your idea reminds me of this theorist. Have you considered that?” and “Your observations are interesting. What theories can you recall that could explain some of those?” My choice to reach out resulted in a very helpful brainstorming session—much more productive than if I had spent hours stubbornly trying to de-tangle my own ideas. With my TA’s help, I had structured and organized my entire argument in thirty minutes, and not once did I feel inferior.
Tip #48 promotes personal responsibility and encourages students to hold themselves accountable for their learning. Thus, I would propose the addition of a similar tip—“Tip #76: Learn Your Learning Style.” The rigor of a high school curriculum and that of a college curriculum are completely different, so it is expected that your study habits will evolve as well. Try out different study spaces, note-taking methods, and organizational tools during the first few weeks to find what works best for you in each of your classes. In high school, I was an aural learner. In those classes, I benefited most from listening to lectures and engaging in class discussion. However, at Trinity, I found that just listening to a lecture was no longer sufficient in some of my classes. It was not until I re-took an online assessment about learning styles from high school that I realized that I am “multi-modal”, meaning that of the four existing modes of learning information—Visual, Aural/Auditory, Read/write, and Kinesthetic—students do not rely upon just one. There is no one mode of studying that suits all subjects.[1. Neil Fleming, “The VARK Categories,” VARK: A Guide to Learning Styles, 2001, http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=categories.] Likewise, it is likely that one mode must be supplemented with another. For instance, in my educational studies course this past semester, I was a kinesthetic and a visual learner. Simulations and other practical activities relating to real-life examples helped me grasp concepts. However, when it came to understanding theorists and their ideas, I found it helpful to prepare charts to categorize information. I eventually learned that, in addition to adjusting socially to college, academic adjustment was necessary as well. With the wide range of courses Trinity offers as part of its liberal arts curriculum, knowing how to maximize your potential for success in each individual course can truly be beneficial.
As precious as it is to discover yourself in college, it is equally valuable to know how to adapt. Roberts’ advice aims to help students learn to do so, particularly in regards to academics. Understanding the active role you have in making the most of your educational experience is the key to succeeding during your undergraduate years. However, such a responsibility can definitely be intimidating. Though Roberts’ intent is to ease the majority of a first-year student’s worries, no solution can truly prepare you for a fail-proof college experience. Rather, the only way to fully access your potential, both inside and outside of the classroom, is to approach situations head-on with the willingness to adapt if necessary. Such is the most genuine strategy for handling this new transition, as well as the one that will inevitably prove to be the most rewarding.
About the Author:
Nykia L. Tanniehill, a Chicago native, is a member of the Class of 2015 at Trinity College and a student in the “Color and Money” first-year seminar.
Each consisting of a small group of incoming first-year students, a faculty advisor, and an upperclass mentor, First-Year seminars acquaint students with one another through the exploration of an academic topic. Seminars are meant to be “academically rigorous, limited in size, and designed to enhance the new student’s abilities in critical analysis, writing, discussion and debate, and research and information literacy.”[1. Trinity College First-Year Program, “Starting Out: The First-Year Seminar Program”, 2011, http://www.trincoll.edu/Academics/FYP/Starting/Documents/SOfirstyearseminar.pdf.]However, though this required course succeeds in helping students hone the necessary skills to survive the rigor of a college curriculum, it does little to introduce new students to their role as active members of the Trinity community. Also, few First-Year seminar advisors facilitate dialogue that explores first-year students’ perceptions of race and social class. Because of these shortcomings, students lack knowledge about how to bridge racial and socioeconomic gaps, as well as the kind of responsible attitude that would motivate a student to care about improving student interactions in this way. Such is the cause of issues involving race and social class among Trinity students. In order to reach the level of acceptance and understanding that must exist in an ideal campus environment, first-year seminars must be re-vamped to include components that actively engage them with the campus community. Additionally, they must collaborate with other seminars to learn how to constructively discuss the issues of racism and classism that undoubtedly plague our campus.
Though topics studied can be as complex as “Modern Classical Liberalism” or as casual as “Beatles and the 60’s,” few have the objective of exploring their topic in the context of the campus community. Of the 36 seminars offered in the Fall 2011 semester, only two seminars—“Color and Money” and “Dangerous Decisions or Cheerful Choices”—explicitly mention using situations specific to Trinity as a framework or actively collecting data from students to enhance their research. Additionally, a third—“We Don’t Need Your Education”—requires students to study student movements in preparation for a culminating activity where individuals must conduct their own campus demonstration[1. Trinity College, “Course Schedule”, Fall 2011, http://internet2.trincoll.edu/ptools/CourseListing.aspx.] In his recent “white paper,” President James F. Jones Jr. expresses his desire for every Trinity student to “recognize the intrinsic merits of the diversity of humankind in the broadest possible connotations of the word” after four years.[1. Jones, James F. Jr., “To Reweave the Helices: Trinity’s DNA by Our Two-Hundredth Birthday” , 2011. College Archives – Documents. Paper 5. http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/trinarchives/5, pg 7.] The small First-Year Seminar groups are meant to establish an environment within which students can comfortably challenge or embrace an array of new ideas. It is here that students should begin to discover what it means to be the open-minded, active community members that Jones envisions. However, with only three of 36 seminars broadening their focus to the college and its inner-workings, many students are missing out on opportunities that could engage them with the campus in meaningful ways. Additionally, without a basic understanding of how to respectfully acknowledge different cultural and socioeconomic perspectives, students cannot interact with their peers in ways that contribute to the development of an inclusive student body.
Despite the lack of many seminars that introduce students to the realities of campus culture, a complete reconstruction of each seminar’s curriculum is not necessary. Rather, the addition of a component that focuses strictly on each topic’s connection to Trinity and relevant campus issues such as race and social class should be considered. For example, seminars like “Global Challenges of the 21st Century” or “T-Lab: Technology for International Development” that focus on global issues could also consider studying how certain international issues compare to the issues that members of different cultures in the United States face. Students can also draw parallels or make distinctions between the areas they studied and those that exist in the city of Hartford or in their own hometowns. Students could even survey students around campus and ask them to do the same. In this way, students in these seminars would be actively engaging with campus, as well as enhancing their study of their topics by using students as first-hand resources. Similarly, role-playing seminars like “Athens and Rome” and “Religion, Politics, and Power” could enrich their knowledge by exploring what vestiges of the historical eras they study still exist today. Between the amount of United States citizens and international students who attend Trinity, a rich discussion of how political, social, intellectual, cultural, and economic components of those areas might have influenced other cultures to which Trinity students might belong could result.
In addition to promoting more peer-to-peer interaction, seminar advisors could also promote an intrapersonal approach to bettering the Trinity community. President Jones follows his wish to nurture an attitude of acceptance amongst students with an expressed desire for each student to fulfill his or her duty as “an integral, contributing member of a small, tightly-knit college community founded upon shared meritocratic values”.[1. Jones Jr., 8.] This desire necessitates the addition of a component that teaches students what it means to be an active member of the campus community. Such a program proves to be successful at the University of Washington, where every first-year student is required to take “General Studies 199: The Campus Community.” Much like Trinity’s first-year seminars, first-year students participate in discussions, on-campus and off-campus projects and activities that assist them in their transition to college. However, this course exceeds our program in that it leads students in “beginning to understand their role as learners within the larger university, and how that role compares with their previous educational experiences, and understanding the value of being an active participant in the campus community and beyond”[1. University of Washington First Year Programs, “General Studies 199: The University Community Course Materials” (University of Washington, Autumn 2010), http://fyp.washington.edu/figs/downloads/coursepack.pdf.]Activities include reflecting upon one’s personal goals for academic and social success and completing a project that involves exploring a Seattle neighborhood and comparing it to one’s own racial and socioeconomic experience. Briefly stepping away from the seminar topic to engage students in curricular activities that mirror that of the University of Washington’s course could effectively introduce students to the idea of being more than just another face on Trinity’s campus.
The University of Washington's required General Studies 199 course promotes cross-cultural interaction, as well as the duty of the individual as part of the campus community (Source: University of Washington)
The responsibility of introducing students to the idea of social accountability on campus rests primarily on each seminar’s faculty advisor. However, the fact that each faculty member is at liberty to decide upon his or her own seminar topic could mean that sensitive topics like race and social class might be easily avoided if it is not regarded as a priority by the majority of faculty members. As it stands, though the majority of faculty members desire a cohesive campus, the amount of passion they have towards the subject differs. Thus, their resulting approaches differ, as well. While some side with students in favor of an active response, others have a fear of overreacting. For instance, in the wake of an incident that occurred in Spring 2011, where a White student allegedly threw a beer can and shouted racial slurs at a minority student, Professor Samuel Kassow highlights a tendency for faculty to label students as unruly and close-minded and voiced his preference for a more careful, reflective approach. “Careful policy, based on facts, will achieve much more than jeremiads about racism or frog-marches into courses about “diversity,” Kassow wrote. “We need to look at our peer colleges and carefully assemble data”.[1. Kassow, Samuel. “Halt! Let’s Understand This FIRST! by Professor Kassow.” 4legs. 29 Apr 2011.http://www.4legs.org/2011/04/halt-lets-understand-this-first-by-professor-kassow/] In contrast, Professor David Cruz-Uribe suggested action as an alternative to Trinity’s usual research-driven response strategy. Cruz-Uribe wrote, “I believe that Professor Kassow’s assertion that we need further studies to determine what “factors contribute to tension and alienation” only contributes to the problem…I believe that the college needs to confront it head on”[1. Cruz-Uribe, David, SFO. “BASTA! Enough!” 4legs. 2 May 2011. http://www.4legs.org/2011/05/basta-enough/] In order to effectively address issues of race and social class on campus, there needs to be shared sentiment in regards to the urgency of these issues, as well as a consensus about the measures that should be taken to address them. At Amherst College, for instance, the student body consisted of 40% students of color and 10% international students in 2010—the same year the institution was ranked third for “Economic Diversity Among Top-Ranked Schools: Liberal Arts Colleges” in 2010 by U.S. News and World Report. In addition to re-vamping recruitment methods, instituting a need-blind/ no-loan admissions policy, and broadening their standards for merit aid, researchers contribute Amherst’s success in this regard to establishing institutional support.[1. Rubin, R. B. “Recruiting, Redefining, and Recommitting: The Quest to Increase Socioeconomic Diversity at Amherst College.” Equity & Excellence in Education v. 44 no. 4 (October 2011) p. 512-31] Similarly, in order to enhance First-Year seminars in a way that promotes diversity and community effectively, all faculty members should speak often and openly about various approaches until there is a unified stance. This will only strengthen the initiative and increase its likelihood of resonating with both incoming and returning students alike.
Such a unified perspective among the faculty can be exemplified for first-year students by way of colloquial activities between seminars. According to a 2008 student survey study conducted at the University of California, students’ academic disciplines can shape their perceptions of race and social class even moreso than ethnicity, socio-economic standing, or political affiliation.[1. Peter Schmidt, “Much Research on Campus Diversity Suffers From Being Only Skin Deep, New Studies Suggest,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 13, 2010, sec. Students, http://chronicle.com/article/Much-Research-on-Campus/65051/.] Therefore, it would be beneficial for about three or four seminars from multiple disciplines to form “clusters” on a bi-monthly basis, wherein they would share what they have learned about their topic through the lens of the Trinity-specific component. Students would also share what they have learned in regards to the component that would focus on the self and the campus community. It is here, in these “clusters,” that dialogue centering around race, class, gender roles, and other sensitive topics that require genuine, constructive discourse would be discussed. In his “white paper,” President Jones proposes the creation of a reading list of fifteen or so works, including classics like Candide, To Kill a Mockingbird,and “The Book of Exodus.” Seminars, which would be newly regarded as Understandings in Common, would read one book per week in preparation for faculty-facilitated discussions as a way of “dealing with ethical dilemmas concomitant with our students’ experiences at Trinity” and to explore “the theoretical and the actual, as ethics and postmodern events in real time coincide and collide”[2. Jones Jr., 19-20.] Such a suggestion aligns with the idea that students at Trinity are already adequately stimulated to debate current events using theory as a framework for the stances they choose. However, relating these events with students’ experiences at Trinity using literature as a springboard could add dimension to the kind of critical thinking that is already taking place in first-year seminars. The concept of Understandings in Common would undoubtedly work just as in “clusters” just as effectively as it would in individual seminars, since a variety of different perspectives often provides access to more modes of thinking than expected.
Exposure to a multitude of varying views and opinions is one of the most effective ways to resolve the ignorance that motivates issues related to race and social class. As a program that is known to orient incoming first-year students to college, first-year seminar advisors should not be reluctant to introduce students to the specific issues that are relevant to Trinity and the appropriate resources to combat them. Such resources exceed physical locations, such as the Counselor’s office or the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Rather, they extend to the tools of communication and active listening, as well as the potentially groundbreaking concept of “self” as it relates to campus community and culture. By instituting campus-wide support in the initiative to teach students how to access these tools as early as the First-Year seminar, Trinity could be well on its own way to meeting its goal of becoming an actively inclusive campus.
The racial and social disconnect that exists between minority students and non-minority students on Trinity’s campus is due to an ineffective First-Year Program. Though the First-Year Seminar was designed to acquaint a small group of students with one another while exploring an academic topic with a faculty advisor, the development of academic skills often takes precedent over the development of camaraderie. Many of Trinity’s seminar topics are fun, but do not push students to get to know one another’s stance on sensitive topics like race and class, nor do they engage students with the campus community. With the current condition of the First-Year Program, students are not taking advantage of the opportunity to learn how to discuss the kinds of topics that affect us more than we know in a small group environment, nor are they learning what it takes to become a true, active member of the campus community. Additionally, the activities at First-Year Orientation lack transparency and fail to encourage dialogue that makes students think about the campus community in a broader sense.
As a solution, Trinity should implement more learning communities into its First-Year Program. Students would be placed into small groups and taking the same “cluster” of classes based on a shared academic interest. Research shows that other factors like a student’s area of study can shape students’ perceptions of campus climate just as much as a student’s race and social class. For students who are relatively decided about which area of study they’d like to pursue, this is an opportunity for professors to engage students in a way that accommodates the perceptions that are unique to students in that field and build upon them positively. Additionally, all students should be required to take a course—much like the “General Studies: The Campus Community” course at University of Washington—that has students study prevalent issues on campus and in the surrounding community and think about what role they must play in creating change. Additionally, as the component of the First-Year Program that has the most impact, Orientation should include more activities that address the current state of interactions between race and social class on campus, as well as encourage students to start thinking of ways to improve those relations and contribute to the development of their new community. In this way, this topic will no longer be one that is overlooked or deemed inappropriate to discuss.
This journal article presents results from a study conducted at a university in the Midwest that suggest that students who participate in learning communities are more apt to become involved in rich ways around campus, and to excel academically.
Peter Schmidt, “Much Research on Campus Diversity Suffers From Being Only Skin Deep, New Studies Suggest,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 13, 2010, sec. Students, http://chronicle.com/article/Much-Research-on-Campus/65051/.
The research conducted in this article suggests that perceptions of campus climate are influenced by more than a students’ race and social class. After distributing a survey to upperclassmen, the author discovered that each area of study had similar perceptions. Thus, adding to my ideas of how race and class can be addressed most effectively in the learning communities I propose.
Christopher Shea, “Orientation at Penn,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 15, 1993, sec. Archives, http://chronicle.com/article/Orientation-at-Penn/92558/.
This article talks about how students and staff at the University of Pennsylvania presented prevalent campus issues related to race, social class, and dating violence to the incoming first-year class as an Orientation activity. Though its effectiveness was debated, this article inspired my idea for Trinity to incorporate more activities at Orientation that exposed students to campus culture in a more transparent way.
This source provides information about “Freshman Interest Groups” at University of Washington, which are much like the learning communities I propose. This source also contains a link to the syllabus for their required “General Studies: The University Community” course, which encourages students to examine issues on campus and the surrounding community.
Based on student experiences and the research we have already conducted as a seminar, I would offer that one of the major causes of issues related to race and social class at Trinity would be an ineffective First-Year Program. Currently, first-year seminars exist to acquaint freshmen with other freshmen of like interests, as well as to strengthen skills necessary to manage a college workload. However, though people might enjoy the wide variety of seminar topics, which can range from the Beatles to energy policy, few topics pertain specifically to the Trinity community.
Solution:
I would propose that faculty and staff re-vamp the First-Year Program to include more seminars like this one that would actively engage students with the campus and the issues that occur here. By encouraging students to examine and provide possible explanations and improvements for the current state of campus interactions and initiatives, students are made to feel like an integral part of the Trinity community much sooner, regardless of race or social class. Also, such seminars will allow students to feel more comfortable with addressing discrepancies on campus if the need arises later. Students will really feel as if they truly play a role in shaping the campus community because the institution will literally demonstrate how they can do so from the moment they arrive.
Additional Information:
In order to create a stronger paper, I will need more information about first-year seminars, past and present, to verify the number of Trinity-centered seminars that exist or have existed. It would also be helpful to acquire some syllabi to see how much seminars connect their topics to campus happenings. It would also be helpful to find some guidelines somewhere that outline the intended purpose of the first-year program, as well as student responses to see if it has fulfilled those expressed goals. It would be interesting to hear the ways that the first-year program influences students’ college experience in actuality, if it does at all anymore.
Caitlin Quinn of San Francisco, CA, would be considered by many as the model student. Caitlin has a GPA of 3.9, an SAT I score of 1680, a composite ACT score of 23, and scores of 5 and 3 on the AP English and Biology exams, respectively. Though Caitlin’s counselor recommendation reveals a weakness in regards to standardized testing, Caitlin’s academic achievements have earned her Consistent High Honors and the Cum Laude Award. She is the captain of two sports, yearbook editor, co-founder of the Quidditch Club and the Israeli Culture Club, and is passionate about drama, film, and media. Recently, Quinn participated in a trip to Israel that drove her to reconnect with her Jewish heritage and inspired a moving photo essay that she shared with 400 students. Caitlin is Caucasian and has four alumni connections.
I recommend accepting Caitlin into the College. Though she might not be a strong test-taker, Caitlin’s high GPA and academic honors are enough to convince me that she does have the strong work ethic necessary to thrive at the College. From sports to culture and the arts, Caitlin shows full investment in her many interests and her lengthy lists of quality leadership roles shows that she definitely has the potential to use her passions to contribute greatly to the community at the College. Furthermore, her journey to self-discovery in Israel and her resulting contributions to her community shows that Caitlin is open to growth as a student and as a person, and is willing to use her findings to grow personally and incite change in the world around her. Her astounding combination of rigorous courses, a helpful attitude, and an eagerness to learn for the sake of learning will make her an excellent addition.
