My name is Adrianne Ramsey and I am a first-year student at
Sarah Lawrence College. After reading so many college testimonials over the
years, I will admit I am a little shocked that I am sitting here writing my
first one. While I am still figuring out the world of college, I hope that one
will find a “lesson”, whatever it may be, within my words.
Sarah Lawrence has an interesting and somewhat complex academic
system. First, students take three five-credit courses each semester, and
“conference” makes up a big bulk of the coursework. In short, students meet with
their professors every other week for thirty minutes (conference) and discuss
an individual project that they will create for the class. The project, which
for most students is a very long paper, is worked on over the course of the
semester. Second, all first years are required to take a yearlong seminar
(First Year Studies) in a subject they are particularly interested in (course
choices are submitted to the academic committee during the summer). The
professor who teaches your FYS is your don, who is your academic counselor for
the next four years. Dons help students navigate which courses they want to
take, provide them with advice, and make sure they are keeping up in their FYS.
Third, Sarah Lawrence prides itself on having an open curriculum, which means
there are no general-education requirements and students can virtually take any
classes that they are interested in.
My FYS is a Fiction
Workshop, and I wrote two short stories that were 10-12 pages each for my
conference work. In addition to my FYS, I took two semester long courses, History of Photography from the 19th
to 20th Century (a lecture course) and 18th Century British Theatrical Literature (a seminar
course). For my photography conference, I wrote a 7-page paper about how
documentary photography aided the American Social Reform Movement (1880-1936).
For my British Literature conference, I wrote a 20-page paper on gender and
narrative tone in the novels Oroonoko
(Aphra Behn) and Princess of Cleves
(Marie-Madeline de Lafayette).
The first semester
of college was quite an adjustment period for me, not only in terms of academic
rigor but also figuring out what direction I wanted my education to go. My
lecture class was accessible because there were 40 students, but my two weekly
seminars consisting of 12 students each was an extreme change of pace from my
high school classes of 35 students. I loved my don and the close discussions
that went on during my fiction class, but they were initially very
intimidating. When
we began to read our stories aloud, I saw that majority of my classmates were
abstract writers, meaning that they provide many detailed scenes and do not immediately
let the reader know what the arc of the story is. I am an expressionist writer,
meaning that I like to get to the point and always let the reader know what is
going on. I was completely blown away by my classmates’ stories and would
always dread reading mine. I would pray that everyone else would get over his
or her shyness so I could read my story last. These insecure feelings didn’t
sit well with me. I consider myself to be a very confident writer and am
usually very proud of my work, but in this situation I felt that my stories
were minimal, lackluster, and mediocre compared to my peers. When we began to
discuss readings, it took a while for me to break out of my shell and
contribute. Things began to change when I started to write my first story for
conference. I believe that first conference story was the turning point for me
in terms of becoming confident in my writing again. I really began to work
harder on adjusting tone and dialogue, providing the right amount of details to
where I didn’t confuse the reader but didn’t make everything entirely obvious,
and going deeper into the minds of my characters. It was an enlightening experience
and also helped me to speak up much more in all
of my classes. When I began to work on my second conference story, I felt much
more confidant. I thought to myself, I
can do this. My don was also very supportive and helped to boost my
confidence over the course of the semester.
I had two very
different reactions to my semester-long courses. First, I came into college
thinking that I wanted to take many world literature courses. But halfway
through my British Literature class, I regretted that wish. While I hate to
simply say that a class is “boring”, I am not exaggerating when I say that
every discussion was painfully dry and those times I spent working on my
conference project were some of the lowest points of my first semester. I don’t
hate the concept of literature classes; I really do love reading. I just had a
professor who led class discussions very poorly and did not provide enough
historical context of 18th century Great Britain. Thus, British
Literature was not a joyful experience for me. However, I refuse to say that
the class was a “waste of a semester” because it wasn’t. I was able to
successfully finish a 20-page paper and realized that I would rather not pile
on a load of literature courses. Second, I was pleased to discover that my art
history professor was down-to-earth, brilliant, funny, and, to put it shortly,
awesome. At Sarah Lawrence, lecture classes have “group conferences” in place
of individual conferences in which 10-12 students discuss a subject in
accordance to the class for an hour. My professor ignited the conversation and
guided it if it digressed, thus prompting students to think as critically as
possible. In class I learned about the origins and scope of photography in
France, America, and Great Britain, and in conference explored many different
aspects of photography, such as discussing spirit/trick photography and looking
at images from D-Day. When I took film photography in high school I had always wanted
to learn the history behind the medium, but didn’t know where to begin. Writing
papers for my photography class was a synch because I was fully immersed in the
subject. As I read the required readings/essays for lectures, I developed a strong
drive not only to finish the reading, but to also read in a way that made each
piece meaningful and relate to my interest in photography.
Sarah Lawrence
doesn’t have a designated time for midterms/finals, but the last three weeks of
semester are bunched into what is called “conference week”. This was the time
when I saw my peers bleary-eyed, sipping endless cups of coffee, and spending
the night in the library working on the conference projects that they had
procrastinated on all semester. My roommate spent 20 hours in the library
working on six different papers and didn’t sleep for 2 days. Fortunately I had
been working very hard on my conference projects all semester and was able to
finish them a week before the semester ended. I realized what academic strategies
weren’t going to work for me and cut them out early. Honestly, as long as one
stays balanced, organized, and keeps track of all their deadlines, making it
through conference week/finals is relatively simple. I worked and studied hard,
and it definitely paid off and I plan on staying at this ideal academic level.
Extracurricular
wise, I definitely stepped back a lot. In high school I participated in ten
activities; this semester I wrote articles for our school newspaper The Phoenix and am still in the process
of writing articles for our school blog SLC
Speaks. At the beginning of the semester I was very self-conscious and
annoyed with myself for not joining a lot of clubs. I felt like I was doing
homework all the time, which was
true. I didn’t understand how so many people were able to balance being in so
many clubs and having so much conference work. However, looking back I am happy
that I chose to focus solely on academics and hope to join more activities next
semester.
My college
experiences were not solely academic based; dormitory life played a big part. At the beginning
of the school year, I lived in a six-person suite. This consisted of a triple,
a double, a single, a common room, two bathrooms, and a kitchen equipped with
appliances. While this is luxury (especially for first-years!), nothing stayed
peaches and cream for very long. Four of my roommates ended up moving out of
the suite due to their own personal issues. One even left the school and
returned home shortly before the semester ended. Luckily, my best friend
Isabelle moved into my room. It is a slumber party every night, which provides
a very positive environment for the both of us. Although so many people moved out of my suite,
it was common for me to hear from friends who did not really connect with their
roommates or returned to their rooms feeling as if they were entering a
battlefield. The best advice I can give regarding not only roommates but also
students is to have a default attitude of being patient, respectful, and
welcoming. I often made strong friendships with people I probably would not
have befriended in high school. Random conversations or situations also sparked
friendships. Bottom line is, have a pleasant and positive attitude towards
others because it will make your overall day-to-day experiences nice and your
overall experience rewarding.
College is an
amazing experience, and you don’t have to be at Sarah Lawrence to know that.
Being in any college is an incredible accomplishment. Your experiences
and struggles in college will be your own. There may be times where you feel
like nothing is going right, you don’t belong, and you want to go home. But
trust me, things will get better. It’s a blessing to be in college. Stay true
to yourself and your passions, and continue to chase after your dreams!
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