Nowhere to hide
7/25/2005
I read recently about a national survey of 40,000 college-bound students, according to which the students viewed large universities as good places for those seeking academic challenge, while smaller colleges were seen more as places where it's easy to get help from professors. They're only half right. Imagine sitting in the back of a 200-seat lecture hall. Who's to know if you did your homework or if you're really texting somebody or doing the clandestine iPod shuffle. But then imagine a comfortable space conducive to conversation with 15-20 other people—and you know all their names. The professor looks you in the eye, smiles and asks, "What do you think?" Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines and welcome to college!
Smaller schools are a lot more challenging because there's nowhere to hide! You have to come prepared, ready to ask good questions, to defend your positions, to dialogue and debate, to amass, comprehend and apply new theories and information, to critique your work and that of others. It's active not passive. And yes, the professors are there to help you learn. Not to make it "easy" in some blow-off way, but to stimulate you and inspire you and encourage you to get the best out of yourself and to get the most out of this amazing explosion of possibilities that is college. Rigor among friends. Rigor without mortis.
So don't go to a smaller school if you want to remain anonymous, if you want to be left alone and not challenged, if you want to skate on through untouched. But if you want to break on through to the other side then come to a smaller community of scholars where learning is dynamic and alive—and so are you.
At Dominican, we have lots of small classes—three out of four have fewer than 20 students! This means lots of life-changing and life-enhancing moments for those who are up to it. So don't hide. Seek.
I read recently about a national survey of 40,000 college-bound students, according to which the students viewed large universities as good places for those seeking academic challenge, while smaller colleges were seen more as places where it's easy to get help from professors. They're only half right. Imagine sitting in the back of a 200-seat lecture hall. Who's to know if you did your homework or if you're really texting somebody or doing the clandestine iPod shuffle. But then imagine a comfortable space conducive to conversation with 15-20 other people—and you know all their names. The professor looks you in the eye, smiles and asks, "What do you think?" Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines and welcome to college!
Smaller schools are a lot more challenging because there's nowhere to hide! You have to come prepared, ready to ask good questions, to defend your positions, to dialogue and debate, to amass, comprehend and apply new theories and information, to critique your work and that of others. It's active not passive. And yes, the professors are there to help you learn. Not to make it "easy" in some blow-off way, but to stimulate you and inspire you and encourage you to get the best out of yourself and to get the most out of this amazing explosion of possibilities that is college. Rigor among friends. Rigor without mortis.
So don't go to a smaller school if you want to remain anonymous, if you want to be left alone and not challenged, if you want to skate on through untouched. But if you want to break on through to the other side then come to a smaller community of scholars where learning is dynamic and alive—and so are you.
At Dominican, we have lots of small classes—three out of four have fewer than 20 students! This means lots of life-changing and life-enhancing moments for those who are up to it. So don't hide. Seek.
