My Freshman Year by Rebekah Nathan is essentially a book about the narrator, Rebekah Nathan, attempting to understand and assimilate to the culture of being a freshman in college. What’s ironic about the novel is that Rebekah Nathan is in her fifties and is a professor at the college of which she is going “undercover” as a student. She is an anthropologist who studies other cultures, and tries to understand how they think and act. Her first week as a freshman college student reveals a lot about the culture of undergraduate college students to her. It shows her a completely different perspective of their lives since she’s a professor, and times have significantly changed since she was a freshman. Obviously, it is very hard for someone of Nathan’s …show more content…
Colleges try their best to form a sense of community, but the reality is that everyone has their individual path and schedules, and one must really put in effort to have similar paths and schedules as their peers. For example, Nathan writes that everyone has different classes, meal plans, as well as extracurricular activities, which makes it hard to form a sense of community. In addition to a lack of community, Nathan also notices the lack of diversity. Again, colleges try their best to have very diverse communities, but the reality is that the majority of students are Caucasian. The lack of community and diversity shocked Nathan, because colleges make it seem like the …show more content…
However, what is completely different is the diversity. As I previously stated, American colleges are predominately Caucasian, but this school in Germany is made for diversity. It has students coming from all across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East to attempt to learn German and get a job in the country. One activity, that the students did was track their paths from their home to the school. The activity revealed the immense diversity amongst the students. This diversity also doesn’t help with the sense of community because everyone has different backgrounds and it’s hard to find things people have in common other than the will to come to the school. Furthermore, they don’t all speak the same language, so it is that much more important for them to learn German in order to connect, and have at least more of a connection to others and a larger sense of community. Overall, Neuland is definitely more diverse than American colleges, but it also lacks the community that American colleges seem to lack due to the individuality of the
Nathan views education as not only unnecessary, but potentially wasteful and dangerous: “Sending a girl to college is like pouring water in your shoes…It’s hard to say which is worse, seeing it run out and waste the water, or seeing it hold in and wreck the shoes” (56). Nathan believes that knowledge will either wreck his daughters, as they might be able to think for themselves, or will simply run out of them because they are too weak to retain their learning. He sees the women in his family as “dull-witted, bovine females” who are pliable to his needs (73). Adrienne Rich refers to this as a part of the “Great Silence” in which men “withhold from (women) large areas of the society’s knowledge and cultural attainments” (Rich 290). Rachel knows she is a victim of this circumstance, “telling him off good in the bathroom mirror,” while proclaiming “I’ll show you whose mind is a blank slate!” (426). However, because she is subservient to her father, Rachel refuses to declare this sentiment to his
In Paul Toughmay’s “Who Gets to Graduate,” he follows a young first year college student, Vanessa Brewer, explaining her doubts, fears, and emotions while starting her college journey. As a student, at the University of Texas Brewer feels small and as if she doesn’t belong. Seeking advice from her family she calls her mom but after their conversation Brewer feels even more discouraged. Similar to Brewer I have had extreme emotions, doubts, and fears my freshman year in college.
How imperative is it that one pursues a traditional college experience? Although it might appear that Charles Murray and Liz Addison are in agreement that the traditional college experience is not necessary for everyone, Addison provides a more convincing argument that higher education is necessary in some form. This is seen through Addison’s arguments that college is essential to growing up, that education is proportional to the life one lives, and that community college reinvents the traditional college experience. Not only does Addison have her own opinions about college, but Murray does as well.
From the outset of the story there is an overwhelming sense of hope that has enveloped the entire community and school with the upcoming graduation. The communitie's involvement strengthens the authors excitement in her rite of passage. Everyone is preparing for the ceremony and seeking to see how it will affect the lives of those involved. "Only a small percentage would be continuing on to college" (835) and others were just excited for the "glorious release" (834) from school. She felt like she was on top of the world, after all, "the graduating classes themselves were the nobility" (834). It is obvious how much pride she takes in her community by the way she describes her class as "an extended family." (834). The author's school was not the most impressive school compared to the white schools in the area but that could not damper the spirit that was filling the air. Parents who were buying or making new outfits for their graduates made everyone including the author the center of attention. Her "momma launched out on [hers]," (835) and she was swollen with pride that she was going to be a walking mod...
In this society, almost every high schooler is told they need to go to college in order to be successful, but that is not necessarily true. Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill questioned if everyone needs college to be successful in their article, “Should Everyone Go to College?”. In the article, Owen and Sawhill discuss that even though college is very helpful for many people, but for some the benefits of a college education do not outweigh the costs. Owen and Sawhill discuss this and show the statistics on the pricing of college and general student success throughout the article. Overall, this article does a very well job showing ethical appeals with statistics, does an average job with emotional appeal, and does a very well job showing logic
Facing something that we want to judge, we can not only find its disadvantages, then ignore its advantages and values, and that’s the same for colleges. As a matter of fact, we need to face everything with fair judgements rather than prejudices. Community college or two-years college is good for us to choose; don’t let the prejudices influence our
As I went through the research process for this paper I conducted many interviews with former classmates who are now either attending a four-year university or a local community college. The original intent was to find out their reasons for attending the institution they chose to attend. As I accumulated information I began to see a glaring trend in the relationship between the social group the individual was a member of and the college they ended up attending. This then drove me to further examine the influencing factors in these students’ social lives, in a hope of identifying the degree to which they are influenced by each other. Thus, the first part of the paper explores the community colleges of the surrounding area and the programs that they have to offer to students. Meanwhile, the second part of the paper is more of a sociological investigation into peer groups and the factors that lead kids into choosing their institution of higher education. I chose to focus on the institution that is the community college due to the fact that a large number of my former classmates are enrolled in community colleges.
Nathan performed many observational studies that compelled her to voice the disparity between the formal and informal areas of college life. The "undergraduate worldview" (112) is composed of an in-class, intellectual side that goes vastly unnoticed beside the behemoth that entails living in an environment filled with thousands of young adults. The partying, dorm life, and other non-school sanctioned aspects of living in unsupervised quarters encompass both a student’s time and mental capacities. She found that a majority of conversations surrounded topics of sports, the opposite sex, and TV shows. They find solace in the communal suffrage of going to class and seldom discuss how difficult classes can be. This demeans the intellectual side of college by turning the topic against cl...
He feels that students who want to fit in finds a sense of haven in a college where there are limitless possibilities of being part of a group of “us” rather then them. “Throughout human history, most people have lived around some definable place – tribal ring, river junction, or Town Square. The reality is that modern suburbia is merely the latest iteration of the American dream, David Brooks” Before the construction of the first transcontinental railroad so called the pacific railroad many people lived within the resources of the town square, on the contrary people seek to find something new for them self as a means of traveling to the outer most terrains to express freedom to freely go as they please. In addition the similarities between a sense of us and the freedom of individuals who feel the need to go beyond the borders of their comfort zone is expressed through their decision to face uncertainty weather the choices they made is beneficial or
Entry to community college allows just that. Addison explains, “just follow any one of the 1,655 road signs, and pop your head inside—yes, independent film, a first independent thought, a first independent study” (212). Many potential college prospects are turned away because this self-discovery found in community college cannot be found in private college; however, Addison insists that community college is the golden ticket to regain these would-be scholars. To begin, acceptance is necessary for admittance to many colleges—not community college. In the words of Addison, “down at X.Y.C.C. it is still possible to enter the college experience as a rookie” (213). Any student desiring education, preparation, and self-discovery does not need to look any further than community college, which, for some students, is the only shot at the college experience. On top of this, community colleges provide opportunities like no college—public or private—could. Community colleges provide introductory courses that could not be found in regular institutions; this allows students to explore and get their feet under them. To find and pursue an interest proves more difficult at a college because intense classes are provided from the beginning, whether students have declared a major or have yet to decide. In sum, Addison claims that an atmosphere designed
Palmer, Parker J. “The Quest for Community in Higher Education.” Criteria 2011-2012: A Journal of First-year Writing. Eds. Mary K. Jackman and Lee Gibson. Dallas: SMU Dept. of English, 2011. 46-55. Print.
When diversity is being discussed, there are a plethora of ideas that are associated with it. Whether people are talking being put on a waitlist for college, about people of color, or about representation in the media, the subject of diversity is not rare. Recently, the conversation of diversity has become more common because colleges want to demonstrate that they have diversified campus. How would diversity on campus be defined? Most importantly, diversity is more than having an extraordinary personality. Race, gender, sexuality, and social status are a few of the superfluous traits that make an individual unique in a college’s eyes. In Sophia Kerby’s article, “10 Reasons Why We Need Diversity on College Campuses”, she notes that, while there has already been an effort to diversify high schools and middle schools, accepting students of different backgrounds is not as apparent in higher education (1) . A university desires to diversify its campus in order to benefit the students that are attending the college. Students are not only likely to improve
Tracy’s identity development is heavily influenced by her new friendship with Evie from that moment on. Evie is so popular, but she makes very poor choices and Tracy follows her lead because she wants to seem just as “cool” as her new companion. This is a type of peer pressure that affects many teenagers daily.... ... middle of paper ... ...
The United States is a country that celebrates numerous cultures and ethnic personalities. All the more, college campuses are better preparing students for the encounters and chances that await them in their future. Learning to live, study, and work in a diverse community is now a vital component in becoming a diverse individual/worker. Nevertheless, how should students recognize college campuses that aid diversity and multicultural experiences in a valuable way? Monmouth University has grown enormously over the preceding years. This has given rise to the concern of whether Monmouth has been able to handle this progress. This paper will help to acknowledge and address concerns relating to diversity on Monmouth University’s campus.
Going to school with many different cultures is exciting. I get to learn about cultures I have no clue about, such as Buddhism, Chinese, even Japanese. Going to a school that is very diverse makes me able to talk to others and learn about their cultures, and maybe even make friends with people I thought I would never make friends with. It also goes to show that everyone was not born the same, and no matter what a person’s differences are we should respect them and have no problem conversing with them. As with me, I consider myself a diverse person. My mom is Irish/American and my dad is Lebanese, so coming from a family where two cultures come together is really interesting. We celebrate Ramadan which is the fasting during the holy month for Islam, and we also celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ in Christianity. Getting the best of both worlds is really intriguing, because I can celebrate two totally different holidays from two different religions and now how to respect both. I know for a fact that I do bring diversity to University of Toledo because not most people know an American-Lebanese.