Jaguar Student Activity Center Essay

At the College of Charleston, you are exposed to a plethora of different people from different states, countries and walks of life. Unlike high school, everyone hasn’t grown up in the same neighborhoods or exposed to the same ways of thinking. When I came into college, I ended up not following my dream of doing track and field and decided to just focus on my academics. In doing so, I became involved with different clubs and organizations that were heavily based on academics. One club in particular was a honors organization that included a lot of students from CofC’s honors college. During finals week, we would all meet up in the library or go to Kudo for a study session. I remember asking one student how he was able to stay up for such long

In life, there are many times where an individual may feel alone. Personally, this past week can attest to that notion. Moving into a college dorm, saying goodbye to my loved ones, and taking on a new chapter in my life, have all been accompanied by a new set of emotions that I have never felt before: homesickness, freedom, peer-pressure. However, looking around everyone seems happy, and it feels as if I am trapped in a space that no one else appears to be in. But, internally they may be battling the same struggles that I am. That is what can be drawn from “The Wisdom of Sociology: Sam Richards at TedxLacador,” the idea that behind the facade, our personal struggles are all connected.

One undergrad student who is now a senior, Cassandra Skinner, tells how her choice to attend an HBCU was difficult due to the misconception that these types of schools were “ghetto” or “ratchet”. But after her first semester, and being on the cheerleader squad, she realized that this is where she belonged, with “her

In Frank Bruni’s article “The Real Campus Scourge,” the main argument that many college freshmen are extremely lonely at the start of their college careers is supported by numerous testimonials and statistics, which add to the credibility of the argument and ultimately make the argument very believable.

Making friends on U.S. campuses could be challenging for those who are an international students. It’s not easy to make friends with American students because they tend to be independent and keep distance from others. In Rebekah Nathan’s book “My Freshman Year”, Nathan claims that social life and developing friendships on U.S. campuses is difficult for international students because American students would make them feel uncomfortable and invisible at times. Nathan’s argues that American students don’t put any effort in talking to students from different race, ethnic, and background. International students are usually on their own or be with their friends since Americans wouldn’t make friends with them. In nathan’s book, she discusses about the

In “Keeping Close To Home: Class and Education”, Bell Hooks argues that we have to not only maintain our ties to home but adapt to the new settings around us . In order to strive in one’s life, you must be able to interrupt daily life changes and maintain stability. (74). She explains that being an African American woman, coming from a Southern state, not really experiencing the things she did once she transitioned to Stanford University was a little frightening for her.(74). Hooks found many differences in the environment she now lived in. For example, the way the students interact with one another was strange to her. Where she comes from, children treated their parent with respect, but her white, middle-class roommate thought otherwise. She explained that “things were different” there and people “[thought] differently.”(76).

Finding people who share common interests and enjoy the same activities as yourself can often be difficult to find, but is necessary to have. Especially during college, a time where you are receiving your independence, but unsure of what that truly means, feeling lonely is valid and expected. However, college can offer many resources to aid you in these emotions, by having plenty of discourse communities you can join, or even offering you the opportunity to create your own. As quoted by Herzberg in The Concept of Discourse Community, “the idea of a “discourse community” is not well defined yet” (469). Despite the vague concept John Swales offers, he further goes on to elaborate on what six characteristics discourse communities can be identified through. A discourse community which one of my roommates participates in is the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA). The VSA is a cultural club for students at University of California, Davis, who identify as Vietnamese, and want to come together with others a part of the same background. The VSA is a perfect model of a discourse community, as it passes the checkpoints Swales provides to identify one.

The National Junior Honor society, to me, represents the highest honor someone can achieve while in Middle School. Being accepted into such a prestigious society would not only give me an environment where I can improve my character, but it will also give me an experience which will help me gain a leadership position in the future. My intentions while in this society are to gain knowledge on what I can do to better my household as well as my community as a whole. While in this society I will work diligently to make positive changes to my community and school.

The Lone Star College (LSC) Tomball campus is located in the City of Tomball, TX, off Tomball Parkway between Zion Road and Baker Drive. The campus is part of the Lone Star College System that offers courses leading to an Associate’s Degree or towards the attainment of work skills that leads to certifications in a variety of career fields. The Tomball campus currently provides services to approximately 9,000 students with a teaching staff consisting of both full-time professors (~35%) and part-time adjunct professors (~65%). The Tomball campus opened in 1988 primarily serving the Tomball, Klein, Magnolia, and the northwest Spring Cypress

While auditing courses for her own education and interest a professor realized that the students were relating to her as if she was a student. She was behaving as a student, asking questions, going regularly to class and doing the required readings and in turn the other students began sharing insights, gossip and opinions she would never hear as a professor. Rebekah Nathan (pseudonym assumed by the author, Cathy Small, for purposes of the book) recognized that “even after my fiftieth birthday, I could still be a student, and treated by other students as, more or less, a peer”(Nathan, 2005, para. 71). She decided use her sabbatical to study campus life through a student’s viewpoint, instead of the professor-student perspective.

Upon graduation from high school with an above 4.0 GPA and a 28 ACT score, I received the Wildcat Excellence Scholarship from the University of Arizona in the amount of $6,000. Among the friendliness, location, and pristine medical reputation, this scholarship was a large reason why I proudly chose the U of A for my undergraduate studies, because without the financial aid there was diminutive chance of being able to afford a college education. During my first semester freshman year, I struggled with common ‘teenager problems’ (low-self esteem, peer pressure, etc.), but there was also an added weight: I graduated high school at the age of fifteen, and it was at that time I left home for university life. While academically, I seemed prepared enough for this challenge, emotionally I was still only barely sixteen,

In these dorms, the initial interactions that socially code us throughout college are initiated. These social interactions create and solidify bonds between students that can continue for the rest of their lives. A change to the demographics of the freshman dorms doesn’t just create an immediate effect, but also affects every current and future resident of UC Davis. A freshmen social group that is initially less diverse will lead to a less diverse group of friends throughout the remaining years of their undergraduate studies. This reduces their social group to a less diverse group of individuals, which reduces the chance for them to interact with other cultures and overcome any form of culture shock that they are affected by, whether it be here in UC Davis or later in their careers. Freshmen dorms are the only place that nurtures cultural interaction to create a UC Davis community that is ultimately more unified, accepting, and respectful of all people and their different cultures.

Barbara F. Tobolowsky states this in her review of My Freshman Year, how Nathan doesn’t go deep into detail about her studies connecting to a “notion of community,” neither does she mention that she lives in a sophomore and junior residence hall. Tobolowsky says in the review, “Nathan relates how students’ lives and the institutional structure, but their very nature, undercut the existence of an institutional community. She begins her argument by recognizing that students are busy.” Most college students have jobs, are in clubs, or volunteer to prepare for their future careers, but then spend less time on their work. Nathan says this is another reason why students don’t get themselves involved in the Greek system. Being a part of an organization requires a lot of time that students can’t give up due to their focus on academics while at the same time it was supposedly said that being in a fraternity or sorority gave them the highest satisfaction with campus life. Nathan pointed out, “The same things that make us feel connected and protected are the things that make us feel obligated and trapped as

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

More than 98 percent of understudies live on grounds in residences. Rookies and sophomores should live in private universities, while youngsters and seniors regularly live in assigned upperclassman residences. The real quarters are tantamount, however just private universities have eating corridors. In any case, any undergrad may buy a supper arrange and eat in a private school eating corridor. As of late, upperclassmen have been given the choice of staying in their school for every one of the four years. Youngsters and seniors likewise have the choice of living off-grounds, yet high lease in the Princeton region urges all understudies to live in college lodging. Undergrad social life spins around the private schools and various coeducational eating clubs, which understudies may participate in the spring of their sophomore year. Eating clubs, which are not authoritatively partnered with the college, serve as eating lobbies and collective spaces for their individuals furthermore have get-togethers all through the scholarly