Gonzaga University
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Sociology
Minor: French
Student Self Identifies as: Biracial: Caucasian & Filipino Heterosexual Female
Summary
I was in a leadership program for sophomores, I’m part of the Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Club, and this year I’ve gotten more involved with our Filipino American Student Union, and last year I did an after-school community program at the elementary school. This year I started working with Dance for Parkinson’s.
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Biracial: Caucasian & Filipino
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Public high school in Richland, Washington with a graduating class of about 500 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Sociology
Minor: French
Extracurricular Activities: I was in a leadership program for sophomores, I’m part of the Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Club, and this year I’ve gotten more involved with our Filipino American Student Union, and last year I did an after-school community program at the elementary school. This year I started working with Dance for Parkinson’s.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
Dance for Parkinson’s has become something bigger for me. I started volunteering because I dance throughout high school but didn’t know how much I wanted to continue that dance in my life. I found that dancing as community service was a good way to keep dance in my life without having to be in the ballet studio six days a week.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
A lot of my professors don’t make us take exams. If we do, they usually take the form of an essay or reflection bringing out own experience into the concepts we’ve been talking about. My homework is mostly reading scholarly or news articles and doing a reflection. Classes are usually just discussions. The bulk of the grade is usually written assignments.
Is there anything you feel that your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
The Sociology department does a good job of starting conversations in class. The professors are good at starting conversations and having them be student-led, which is good because we’re comfortable talking in class.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s very collaborative. The nature of sociology has a sense of community and knowing we can all benefit from working with one another. We’re always working together and there are opportunities in class for small and large group discussions. Grades are never the center of the Sociology classes here.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re very accessible. They have office hours you can visit, but many of my professors will leave their door open and you can drop by and talk to them.
Do you feel that people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
Sociology is very open-mind and critical of other perspectives. A lot of it is talking about how the general public would think about something, then we’ll look at it through a psychology and sociology lenses.
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I tried out an introductory Sociology class and ended up loving my professor. Everything we talked about in class was interesting to me. I hadn’t experienced that in any other class.
Reasons to Attend
1) The opportunity to develop relationships with the professors.
2) The class sizes are really small, so there are lots of opportunities to learn and develop from your professors. [The average class size is 24.]
3) The size of Gonzaga is conducive to meeting people and developing relationships. It makes it not too overwhelming, in terms of being able to get involved. You’re not competing with thousands of people for one thing.
4) The focus on social justice. There’s an underlying piece of wanting to help the community in anything people do at school.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) For people who don’t want to be known by their name in class or for those who want to be more anonymous.
2) If you’re into a big party culture, that’s not really here.
3) If you like football, that’s not here.
4) It snows and it’s cold during the winter.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Coughlin Hall with one roommate
How was transitioning from Richland to Spokane, WA in terms of location?
It wasn’t too different for me because I grew up in Eastern Washington. I was familiar with Spokane growing up. People consider it a small city, but for me, it seems bigger than where I grew up. It was a pretty easy transition. It was easy to make friends here.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
The campus is very safe from what I’ve experienced. Gonzaga is situated in the Logan neighborhood, which is one of the poorer areas in Washington, so there is low-income housing neighboring the campus. It’s not an issue of safety, but it gives us an opportunity to serve the community that we’re planted into.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
I’m not a big partier. What’s nice is that Gonzaga has SpikeNites, which are weekend activities. They do a lot of different things like bingo night, and there are things like craft nights and silent discos. If there’s a basketball game, it’s a fun time cheering on the team.
What have been your favorite times at Gonzaga?
The SpikeNite silent disco was super fun during my freshman year because we had no idea what to expect. We thought it would be weird and awkward, but there’s something fun about being able to flip your music to whatever you want. One of the basketball games I went to we had close seats for. We actually tented for that game. Since getting into the games is competitive, we camp for 24-hours outside for tickets. It’s something all students need to do at least once. It makes your life crazy, especially if there’s a game on a weeknight because you have to have one person in the tent at a time.
How happy are you with the weekend activities or nightlife at your school? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m pretty happy with the options. One thing Gonzaga has on the weekends is where the Student Body Association will put on events where they pay for a bowling night or a movie premiere. If you don’t have a car, it may be hard to go out and do things in Spokane.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
We met during freshman year orientation, and then we found out that we lived on the same floor in the dorm. We’re roommates now.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Gonzaga?
I feel like everyone likes to have a good time. There are opportunities to do that. We don’t have Greek life, so the party culture isn’t super strong without those established organizations. I personally enjoy that because I don’t feel the need to be surrounded by tons of parties all the time. There’s a good balance because if people want to go out, they can and if you want to stay in and go to a Gonzaga event, that’s there too. People like getting off-campus on the weekends and go do something.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
There are racial and ethnic clusters at Gonzaga. It’s about [30%] non-White, and there are lots of cultural clubs that bond together. Those groups support each other and a lot of times they’re friends with one another, but for the most part, the racial and ethnic groups are a little separated. I have quite a few friends who are members of the LGBTQ community and they don’t seem isolated. They’ve very accepted and it’s not a big deal. [The undergraduate population is 70% White, 11% Hispanic, 1% Black, and 6% Asian.]
How strong is the Catholic presence on campus?
It’s not super strong. What threw me off the most transitioning from public to private school is the crosses in all the classes and buildings. The strongest association is having to take a religion class. You have to take one Christianity course and one world religion course. They talk about the mission statement all of the time, and it’s very much tied to the Jesuit practice of education. There isn’t pressure here to be more catholic. You can be any or no religion and be fine here.
How do you like the size of Gonzaga in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has it impacted your experience? [There are about 5,300 undergraduate students at Gonzaga.]
I really like the size. It’s one of the main reasons I chose to go here. It’s nice being able to go to the dining hall and see a familiar face or two, or someone I have class with. Or I can go into a new semester and see someone who lived in my building the year before. It helps you develop more social connections by chance, by seeing someone fairly often. It also keeps the class sizes small. I usually have 20-30 people in a class. [The average class size is 24.]
Careers
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
I’ve had a couple of sessions where they come to my classes or clubs to go over how to build a resume and cover letter, or how to word specific things. They show you where to find jobs and internships. You can also go in for mock interviews. They bring in people from the community to talk on a panel about post-graduate opportunities.