first-year experiences at the mid point

SS1955
Sun, 18 Jan 2009 14:11:31 +0000

It’s back to school for the second term, and I was wondering if parents or students wanted to report on their experiences so far. My son is a first year student, and I have to say it has been mostly positive for him. He likes Denison a lot and has made a nice group of friends despite his own shyness. He found his classes challenging the first term, but did well and overall liked them a lot. He seems to have a good schedule for the second term–a mix that will avoid all classes having heavy reading hopefully. It was a nice long break, so I think he is ready to go back.

One problem he had was that he was sometimes bored–not enough to do! Hopefully, he will get involved in more things this term, but he actually spent so much time studying the first term that he kept up with his work with time to spare. He signed up for several clubs at the beginning of the year event, but wasn’t called for most of them apparently and, being a shy kid, did not seek them out. He did get involved with the Denison Democrats and worked on the Obama campaign some, which he enjoyed, but that came to an end after the election. He had been planning to audition for the band at the beginning of the year, but was afraid he would not have time for it. (And the auditions were apparently held at the same time as the club sign-up event.) That was a miscalculation, so he went off with his instrument this term and will hopefully get in the band (he signed up for the one-credit). I’d be interested in hearing from other parents and students if they find enough to do on campus and what they recommend.

Another problem is that my son’s advisor has done the minimum–just looked over his courses and signed, basically. He has friends with advisors who do a lot more, and take a real interest in the students, so I think he was unlucky with his. I wonder if he should try to switch soon or wait until he knows what he wants to major in and switch then. any advice would be most welcome.

again, it’s been mostly positive, and I would recommend Denison to others applying now (the financial aid is great among other things).