"My Freshman Year"...Surprisingly Similar to MY Freshman Year...

The final reading for the semester, My Freshman Year – What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student, written by the author pseudonym Rebekah Nathan, an anthropologist and ethnographer, proved to be an enjoyable read. I was annoyed with the pseudonym and inability to give the name of the university and students that the viewpoints came from, but am going to resist a Google search that will reveal some of these answers and roll with Nathan’s ethics of being an ethnographer. While I did not find many standout teaching tips while reading the book, the concept of being mindful and relatable to your students emerged and was reinforced throughout the novel, something that can relate to many aspects of successful teaching. I will reflect on surprising aspects of the book, my advice for new teachers, and my perspective on undergraduate students.

What was the most surprising aspect of the book, and why did it surprise you?
The most surprising aspect of the book was how comparable nearly everything was to my freshman year. I was a freshman four years ago, also when this book was published, so it was like a walk down memory lane for me. While reading, I pictured myself at my residence hall meetings, making residence hall community contracts, eating in the dining center, choosing different organizations to become involved in, and changing my major among the many activities described. I used to wonder what college life would be like at a different university in another part of the country because North Dakota State University is not necessarily the most glamorous or well known college. However, after reading this book, though it was written based on a college of similar population (13,000 students), the life of a freshman at this university was so similar. Depending on the location of the school, there may be more things to distract you from your studies, but the responses and observations of these students were all things I did or can think back to observing as a freshman.

Another surprising thing is that students do not feel a sense of community and really don’t care to. So many opportunities are on every campus to become involved and so many students do not. The way Nathan related so many things back to the theme of community and belonging showed me many different ways in which students do and do not embrace campus. Community not only included those organizations that some students see themselves conforming rather than being individuals (I would love to elaborate on Nathan’s references to Greek Life, but that could be a whole separate blog in itself) but also people watching the Superbowl in their own rooms instead of together at the residence hall-wide sponsored event. I then contrasted this with some of the international students’ comments about how the American culture is very individualistic but have so many group projects. Is this so that we don’t fail and lose credibility or face as individuals but as a group where one can’t be easily blamed?

In light of the challenges faced by undergraduate students highlighted in the book, what advice would you give new college instructors?
Reading this book reinforced and reminded me that undergraduate students are faced with so many other things in their life and your class is not always going to be their biggest priority. I think if the research found in this book about the number of students that work, their average amount of time spent preparing for class, volunteering, and doing other activities would be even more different compared to the few years ago when this book was written. College students seem to have the academic side of going to college on the backburner. Comments like those on page 102 about staying in college to experience the culture, parties, and climate of college more so than to earn a degree are disheartening but the reality of the education system today. I myself have said I want to stay in school rather than get a “big kid job” Many of my friends also feel this way. Students today are balancing working and going to school while getting to still partake in these fun parts of being a student.
New instructors need to remember those conversations they hear in class like mentioned in the book about how students talk about parties they went to or other activities they did but then say they did not have time to finish their assignments. I am learning to not be so understanding and that I know that students were probably procrastinating and doing less important things. I wish I could tell my students that I was vice president of my sorority for two years, a Bison Ambassador, an Ambassador for the College of AHSS, in 4 honor societies, worked on weekends I did not have any other activities going on and maintained exemplary grades. New teachers are given very dissonant advice. Some people tell us to be understanding of our students and others say to stop caring. Some classes might lend themselves to lenient policies while others not. My advice is to be consistent with your views and expectations. When you are hired to teach at the college level, you were chosen for a reason and able to teach at such a high level because of your abilities and were most likely a successful student. The habits of some undergraduates will not put them on track to put them in a position to one day teach.

Has this book changed your perspective on undergraduate students? If no, why not? If so, how so?
Reading this novel has not necessarily changed my perspective on undergraduate students because I was an undergraduate student just a mere 6 months ago. If I was further removed I may have found this information more valuable. The experiences and information was very comprehensively covered which could give an older teacher insight of current challenges of students. However, near the end of the book, Nathan effectively gives the reflection of “the teacher as student.” Since I am still so close to the time when I was an undergrad, I can still relate to my experiences and am obviously still a student while trying to take on the teacher role at the same time. Nathan was trying throughout her time to conform and relate with the undergraduates, while I find it challenging for myself to distance myself from them and create a credible authority figure.