Beloit College

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Critical Identity Studies
Minor: Journalism
Student Self Identifies as: Black/African-American Bisexual Male

Summary

I was in Greek life, I was on the Black Lives Matter Beloit, I worked for the Round Table newspaper, and I was a radio host for WBCR. I also played [a sport] and worked for the admissions office.

Background

Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Black/African-American
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual

High School Experience: Catholic private college preparatory school in Chicago, IL with a graduating class of about 480 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: Critical Identity Studies
Minor: Journalism

Extracurricular Activities: I was in Greek life, I was on the Black Lives Matter Beloit, I worked for the Round Table newspaper, and I was a radio host for WBCR. I also played [a sport] and worked for the admissions office.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
I’d say the admissions work did have a huge impact on my work because I was able to see the school in a different light by having conversations with different students and having to figure out how to communicate with them. I had a lot of communication with administration and alumni, so that helped me gain professional experience. It gave me the chance to get in contact with the whole community rather than just being involved with my friend groups. On top of that, my [sports team] group and fraternity, having those smaller individual groups that I felt like I could come home to at the end of a long day. Knowing I had that community and support system there was very nice. Both of those experiences contributed positively.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
Just really heavy discussions and a lot of writing. A good portion of the work would be a few response papers and then maybe one or two big papers. The papers and the participation within the discussions itself [made up most of my grades]. With Critical Identity Studies being so theory and experience heavy, if you didn’t participate in class you lose points. You have to participate. Being such a small school, the professors try to emphasize everyone being active in the classroom.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
They don’t do a good job of finding opportunities for students post-graduating or connecting them to alumni in their field. We don’t really have those things. [Beloit is very graduate school focused] which makes it difficult for people not thinking about graduate school like myself.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I’d say it’s very collaborative. That’s one thing I really appreciated about Beloit. Everybody there wants to help you and see you succeed. I found that to be very helpful. Rather than having my classmates compete with me, I was able to rely on anybody. They didn’t have to be a friend or anything, you could go up to someone and say you’re confused. It also made it a great environment to be a TA in because I was able to invite all of my students in and they’d help each other.
How accessible are your professors?
Every professor I had was all very accessible. The office hours were posted at the beginning of the semester.
Do you feel that people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
I want to say yes, but at the same time, I want to say no. I feel like they are open to an extent. If it’s something like a Political Science class where the majority of people in that class might have a liberal view, and then a conservative view comes up, that opinion wouldn’t be respected in any shape or form. It was acknowledged and torn down rather than acknowledged and debated.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
Going into Beloit I had plans to be an Education or a Political Science major. Freshman year I didn’t like the Political Science classes I took. I was just personally kind of bored with the material and not engaged in class. I took a Critical Identity Studies class the fall of my freshman year and two 300 level classes that following spring and I really enjoyed the theory and the discussions we were having. The classes I took gave me a lot of insight into different peoples’ backgrounds and added to my critical thinking skills.
How was transitioning academically as a first-generation college student? Are there systems in place that help you transition?
There are a lot of resources. You have a few government programs, such as TRIO, and Beloit had peer mentoring set up for students that weren’t TRIO students. You could still be part of a peer mentor group and have a first-generation peer mentor even if you weren’t a TRIO student. The professors who were first-generation college students are very open about that and are willing to be your mentors as well if you need personal assistance.

Reasons to Attend

1) You’ll have great relationships with your professors. You can have one-on-one relationships with them if you chose to do so because they are so accessible.
2) If you’re somebody who knows they’re very open-minded, it’s a great place to go. You’ll be able to grow as an individual and learn a lot.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) You might get bored very fast.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Blaisdell Hall in a single
Sophomore: My fraternity house in a single with 32 housemates
Junior: My fraternity house in a single with 32 housemates
Senior: Clary Apartments with three roommates
What was your favorite living situation?
Senior year in the Clary Apartments.
How was transitioning from living in your hometown in Chicago, IL to Beloit, WI in terms of location?
It was horrible, and I’d say that for anybody coming from a big city. There is no real transportation system here, it’s very small, and inaccessible overall.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
For the most part, it’s a very safe environment. It might feel sketchy at times, but that happens when you’re in a small town you don’t know. I felt like my safety was tested at times. While the town people may not be very involved, the campus is very open and is right in the middle of the street so anybody can walk on our campus. That also means anybody can drive around the campus. I’ve had a few cars follow me around campus.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
If it wasn’t something related to my Greek organization, [my sports team], or a sports game, I didn’t really have a nightlife other than sitting in my room with friends. We had parties, not often but one every couple of months. For [sports] parties, it would be everybody in the same space or apartment. It would be a gathering of friends more so than a party.
How frequent are there events?
Events are going on every day at Beloit. There’s always something, and it was well-publicized. I feel like there just might not be something for everybody. You have to really go out and look. There wasn’t a lot of party type of things, but as far as student activity events you could definitely find something.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
If Greek life isn’t going to have a party, you’re probably going to have a bad weekend. You’re not going to have anything else to do.
Did being a person who identifies as LGBTQ influence your nightlife experience at all?
I’d say it didn’t influence my nightlife choices. I’ve heard there aren’t many options that were inclusive for Queer folks around campus.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
No, I was not satisfied with my nightlife options. I wish there would have been far more things to do at night.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
Either in my dorm or from [my sports team].
How would you describe the overall social scene at Beloit?
If you’re an athlete, your social life revolves around athletics. If you’re a non-athlete, you kind of don’t have a niche unless you find a club or two that works for you. It doesn’t really mix beyond that. If you’re in a sorority or a fraternity that’ll become your circle.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
Not to a very high extent. It’s there, but it’s not ideal. I’d say that has to do with people not mixing. I’d say Beloit has done an okay job of recruiting more students of color, the issue is the lack of effort to mix from groups. The international students kind of just stay with other international students. Beyond that, many domestic minorities converse with one another between groups, but at the same time, each group also has its own little clique. [The undergraduate population is about 7% Black, 11% Hispanic, 52% White, and 4% Asian.]
How would you describe the Black community on campus? How strong is it?
It’s not as strong as it could be. Part of it is that students don’t mix at all. We have so much diversity within us. We have a good portion of us coming from Chicago, but then another portion of Beloit students come from Florida or Texas. It’s all of these different cultures mixing and it doesn’t necessarily work out well all the time. It’s not a close-knit community, but solidarity is there. [About 80% of students come from out of state.]
How did being a first-generation college student affect your social transition?
It was tough because being a first-generation student comes with challenges. It was hard to mesh with students that knew about the college system because I couldn’t relate or understand the things they were talking about. At the same time, it brought me a group of friends I could relate to because I was closer to folks that were just like me.
How do you like the size of Beloit in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How was transitioning to a school with [about 1,250] students?
I like the size. I enjoyed having smaller classrooms. It got annoying seeing the same people all the time. You grow to appreciate the community and seeing the same people every day. I always appreciated getting personal attention, whether it be from a professor or a tutor.
Do people generally seem happy with their college choice by senior year? Do people leave loving your school?
I’m going to say no. I think a lot of people make it to the end of their second year wondering why they’re still there. After you get past your first year you really can’t go anywhere because of how our credit system works. They don’t really transfer over to a lot of big schools so people end up getting stuck there for a while. My experience has been that there are people that look back thinking they miss Beloit, but some people don’t miss it at all. It varies, but for the most part, I didn’t see many people that were upset they were graduating.

Careers

What have you used the career office for? How helpful are they?
The office helped me find a program called Sophomore Shadow where they send sophomores off for a week to a city they have set up different internships and shadowing options in. I took advantage of that opportunity and ended up in Portland doing a job shadow at the Portland Children’s Museum as a marketing intern. It showed me how marketing worked outside of college campuses, and it gave me a connection. It was a good opportunity to travel. They are also really good editing resources. I used them for my resume and cover letter.
Have you learned any computer languages or software that will be helpful to you professionally?
[I’ve gotten] pretty good at the Adobe programs.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how easy are they to work with and how responsive are they?
It was easy to work with and they’re very responsive. If you walk into the office they’re willing to see you on the spot, but you might have to wait a little bit. Financial aid at the school is good, but it could be a little better.