Grave Matters: Professors

There is no doubt that Swarthmore chooses its professors wisely. Hundreds of candidates will apply for one or two positions, ensuring the highest quality of tutelage at this institution. Because of this, it is very likely to have mostly good experiences with professors, but it is also possible to have mediocre experiences.

The Professor is the most important factor in a course because they are the agent between the student and the readings/information. The readings can be dry, but the professor can illuminate them so that the student can make a relevant connection to their own experiences. For example, Kierkegaard isn’t the most compelling author, but Professor Wallace really helped us understand how to interpret his work in a modern day context. On the other hand, the readings can invite themselves to the understand of the students, but some professors can hinder the experience.

When I mean “good” teachers, I can say that all of them are insanely knowledgeable and always available to help you outside of class. But sometimes, professors are unable to communicate their knowledge effectively to help the students understand. This has only happened to me once, but it seems to be a rare occurrence. Another problem is that a student can have personality problems with the professors. Not that the professor are incapable or teaching or the students are dull, but both fail to communicate with each other. This hasn’t particularly been a problem for me, but it seems that it can be an issue in reading/discussion-heavy classes where the professor writes and judges the assignments.

But wait! There are several solutions to professor conundrums. Swat as a Student Rec book where students rate different courses offered. Some categories for a course are the teacher, the readings, the difficulty etc. and a comment box. It’s very helpful, especially to find out about the teaching style of the professor. A lot of times students will talk about how many assignments they are and what type. For example, knowing if a class has more papers or exams for assessments, if you have to do weekly presentations, if the professor prefers a lectures style. The possibilities are endless. Swat also allows students to shop classes for two weeks at the beginning of each semester. This is the best way to really experience the course before you decide to take it or drop it. Lastly, word of mouth is really helpful.

Summary: Professors are very very important.

Housing Lottery

So the time of year has come when housing for sophomore year hangs over our head. Ever since we entered as freshman, we heard scary stories about sophomore housing lottery. The system recognize seniority through lottery numbers, so sophomores always feel like they are screwed. Sophomore numbers range from 800-1200, meaning that we get to choose housing the last. Seniors do it on one day (their numbers range from 1-400), Juniors on another (400-800) and sophomores on the last day. There is also something about cohorts, which I still have not completely understood yet.

The drama that ensues is two fold: roommates and blocking, and numbers and dorms. The housing lottery forces people to form defined cliques, groups of two, four, five, six or eight. Can’t you already understand why it might cause problems? Someone might be left out from a block (friends housing together in a group more than 2), roommates might decide at the last minute that they don’t want to room with each-other anymore so people are scrambling to find other loners, friends can’t agree on where to live.

There are actually a lot of housing options for such a small school. Besides the normally advertised, Wharton, Willets, Danawell, Mertz and Alice Paul, there are the Lodges, Worth, Woolman, Kyle, PPR (most common sophomore housing), Strath Haven, and Mary Lyon. Woolman, Kyle, PPR, Strath and ML are all off-campus, ML being the farthest. We rising sophomores recognize the possibility of having a low number and being screwed, so people all have different ideas of how to beat the system.

One of my friends was struggling to find 6th person in their block, so they found someone kind of randomly. The problem is that they didn’t get their block, so now he is with someone he doesn’t really know very well. It could turn out to be really good or really bad. The worst situation is living in ML with a bad roommate. The guy can’t have had a good number because he didn’t get the block, so it is a very real fear.

As for me? I live in a cozy warm room Wharton. It is the closest dorm to everything on campus, has wonderful bathroom that is cleaned everyday and has continuous hot water, has a courtyard, and is near the amphitheater. My friend in ML says that I am a spoiled brat. It’s only downhill from here, so I am resigned to not being as happy about housing for next year. My lottery number, which I received in the mail today, is in the bottom of the top 1/3rd of sophomore numbers. I think that makes it mediocre.

Drama, drama, drama. The school wouldn’t let us live in a hellish environment. And Wharton is the best dorm. Next year will be somewhere in between.

Parents’ Weekend and Misc.

Sorry for the lack of update, but it has been a long, busy week. This is going to be a short entry because this weekend is busy! My parents are here for Parents’ weekend. It’s supposed to showcase the college and the campus at the very least. The weather, however, decided it didn’t want to comply. April has been a dark stretch of wind and rain. Where are the leaves? I visited Crum Woods (for the first time) and all the trees are bare.

Despite the dampening environment of the campus, it’s nice to have my parents visit and meet other peoples’ parents. I don’t know how much they have planned for them this weekend, but Into the Woods, a play, is showing for the next few days. The multicultural groups are coming together to host a cultural show tomorrow, in which I take part.

It’s all wonderful and busy, but I have a stats midterm on Monday, so I have to balance my time carefully.

Privacy of Rooms

When I give a tour to prospective students and parents, I always show them my room. I live in Wharton, the most beautiful and nicest dorm on campus, in most peoples’ opinions. If you haven’t yet, go down and look at pictures of our courtyard. Now the magnolia tree is in bloom and it looks like a beautiful tree of life. One tree umbrellas almost the whole courtyard with pale pinkness.

Anyways, so parents and students get to see my room. In my view, this is a privilege because rooms are the only personal space a college student has. We’re all collected together on this one small campus, and the only way “safe” physical space is one’s own room. It’s the most private part of a college student that is in physical manifestation, I think. Not just because of wall decoration, but it’s where you study, talk, sleep, create memories. Live.

When I go into a person’s room, I look around carefully because it tells so much about a person. Judgement. It’s a bedroom. Taking prospies on a tour to your room to show “real college life” is showing guests your bedroom in it’s most natural state. Even when it’s clean.

In such a private space, the closet is the most intimate and most private area. It’s just clothes, but our closets are large enough to hold much more.

This notion of a dorm room only develops through the college experience. Because parents on the tour sometimes disrespect that privacy. I have had instance where a parent tried to look through my roommate’s closet without asking me. Even though I wouldn’t have been able to give permission for my roommate. At least they asked before going through mine, but I felt uncomfortable because my closet was a bit messy at that time. They wanted to know how much closet space I had. It is a reasonably valid question, maybe, but it’s really quite trivial.

In another instance, my hall-mate’s door was slightly open, although I don’t think anyone was in there. Two parents pushed open the door further and started looking around, without me noticing. It was a large group so I was busy filing the tour in and out of my room. The courtesy, even if the door is open, is to knock before entering. Then the parents started looking around and making comments. My hall mate was in the lounge so he heard, but he didn’t have a problem with it. Nonetheless, I was surprised and uncomfortable.

Bottom line: college student’s room are private and personal. Most tour groups are respectful of that, but there’s always just one or two who seem to forget or not realise. Even my own hall mates sometimes cross the line of friendly neighborly behavior. It’s a hard boundary to create.

Holi: Colors Galore

So Hindu Club revived itself this semester and we threw our first public event, Holi. There are about 5 of us in the club but since we are all also part of Deshi, we didn’t completely flounder. Actually, it was a wonderful success. Wednesday was an information session about the religious story behind Holi and the cultural celebrations that accompany the festival. Friday was the actual event, from 2-4. Of course Ishi went through the usual motions of getting money from SAC and SBC, getting RatTech for music and Shai and I made posters. Friday night was a party called Holi Hangama, but it was hosted by Deshi not Hindu Club. Anyways, below are pictures from Holi.

Her t-shirt was white, that was unacceptable during Holi