What You're Here to Do

My family has been asking me recently if all that I do here is student activities, eat, and explore Miami, then I must not be going to class.  Well, in this post I am going to explain to you what you are here to do in college, which is go to class!  Given that we might skip every now and then (I am not guilty of that yet!), classes are the most important part of college because we learn skills that will help us earn a degree and go into the workforce someday.  I am using two of my classes-Education 101 and Religion 101-as examples so that you can see what goes on in an actual UM classroom.

TAL 101-C: Social and Cultural Foundations of Education with Dr. D
This class meets Monday Wednesday Friday from 10:10-11:00 AM.  There are about 30 of us, and we always start class by talking about current events, and most recently the election. These discussions usually last the first ten-fifteen minutes as we apply the topics to education.  Next, we discuss the reading(s) that was assigned for class that day.  We usually read documents written by education scholars or chapters out of books that Dr. D uploads to the class web site.  They cover issues facing education today such as socioeconomics, racial identity, meritocracy, gender, and other social and cultural issues that affect the modern school system.  Class participation is huge as we apply several of these concepts to our own lives and schooling experiences.  The class is made of mostly freshmen and sophomore education majors with a few gen ed students, and there are several states and countries represented.  We have two tests and a few papers assigned frequently throughout the semester.  I enjoy this class because it feels more like an intellectual talk session than an actual class and does not have any specific format to it.

REL 101-D: Introduction to World Religions with Dr. M

This class meets Monday Wednesday Friday from 11:15-12:05 PM, and there are about 140 students in total, so we meet in the Learning Center, a building that houses the major lecture halls.  I sit on the far left seat in the second row, so it feels more like a personal classroom and I am less likely to fall asleep, skip, or pay attention.  Dr. M posts her PowerPoint presentations on Blackboard before we begin a unit and she follows through with them on the major projection screens and televisions scattered throughout the room.  I use my computer in this class to take notes directly on the PowerPoint and then save the outline format as a PDF, transfer it to my iPad, and use those notes to study for her exams.  Because the class is so large, we only have four multiple-choice exams that are not cumulative.  We are currently on our last unit, religion in the Americas.  Since our grade is only based on final exams, class participation is not counted in your grade, but I enjoy going to her office hours because she lives in Hecht as the faculty master and likes getting to know her residents.  When we are lucky, she even brings her two sons (ages 5 and 7) to class!  I really like religion because it is fascinating to learn about other peoples' customs around the world!

These two classes are extremely different in structure, but I enjoy both of them because of the content and quality of professors.  Now I am off to practice my persuasive speech for public speaking at 5:00.  My piece of advice to any rising college student is to pick classes at times that work for your personal schedule.  I did not have a choice for time when I needed to replace another class, and I have learned that I do not like having classes that late in the day.  I only have eight more sessions of Public Speaking, but for me it is hard when I am going all day and then go back to study at night.  Sometimes you do not have a choice for certain classes, but make the best of the ones you can!

Have a great Monday!

XOXO