College Classes; My First Impression

I was always told that classes in college are a lot different than those in high school. I now realize how true that statement is. Different, in this case, is not necessarily a bad thing, though, but it is definitely an adjustment.

Transy has a schedule system in two parts. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays you have the same 50 minute classes, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays you have the same 75 minute classes. The system is pretty convenient- especially when it comes to doing homework. I am also pretty lucky in that on Tuesdays and Thursdays I only have one class. The downside to that, of course, is four classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I am usually drained on those days, so all my homework has been getting done on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So it balances well. This scheduling system may sound confusing- maybe I suck at explaining it- but it is very easy to get the handle on.

Most of my classes are in Haupt Humanities, which is the building pictured. My favorite thing about my schedule is the fact that I have Philosophy and Latin in the same room back-to-back. I Definitely don't have to worry about being late!

One very unique thing about my classes here at Transy are how they interrelate. On MWF I have Intro to US Political Science, Foundations of the Liberal Arts (a class, often called FLA, that all first-years must take that can best be described as half freshman English, half critical thinking), Intro to Philosophy, and Latin I. I truly and honestly feel, though, like all my classes are similar, though. I don’t know if the professors have planned it this way, but they all interrelate so well. In Poly Sci we will reference the works of Plato that I just read for Philosophy. In FLA we read political and philosophical texts… at one point I was assigned the exact reading for FLA as I was for Philosophy. In Philosophy we will often hear words that we translate in Latin. In Latin we get words that come up in every other class. It is so weird how it works.

This apparent phenomenon does have a name. It is referred to as “Liberal Arts.” No, this isn’t a political reference. It is the philosophy that a person benefits best from learning everything, not just one particular subject, and learning how everything interrelates. It is the big selling point of Transy and I suggest you check it out. I have only had two weeks of classes at the time of writing this and I can already say that learning in this way is easier. It helps me so much to be able to relate one subject to another.

Ok, I’ll stop before I start sounding like an infomercial. Make sure to check back next week. I will be talking about Greek Life. If you remember, I was on the fence about rushing. Well, I decided to rush, and I will be telling you all about it!

-Jake