Centre College

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Majors: Politics and Math double major
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: African-American Heterosexual Female

Summary

I’m part of Centre Ambassadors so I do interviews and do tours with prospective students. I’m part of the Baptist Campus Ministry, the Centre Christian Fellowship, I have a work-study [job] and I intern at the church down the street.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: African-American
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

High School Experience: Public high school in Louisville, KY with about 450 students in the graduating class. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Majors: Politics and Math double major
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I’m part of Centre Ambassadors so I do interviews and do tours with prospective students. I’m part of the Baptist Campus Ministry, the Centre Christian Fellowship, I have a work-study [job] and I intern at the church down the street.
Have any of your extracurricular activities had a particularly big impact on your experience?
The Baptist Campus Ministry and my internships down the street have had big impacts on my experience. I’ve been able to get really involved with that church and make a lot of connections with the people who go there. It’s also helped me realize what I don’t want to do as a career.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
For Math, we have homework after pretty much every class and reading. Throughout the semester there are usually three exams and then a final.
For Politics, we primarily have readings and then have to write papers on those readings. In terms of testing material, we have a midterm and a final, with a heavier reliance on the readings and papers.
Is there anything you feel that your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
The Math department does a really good job being available and providing opportunities for students to get better at whatever topics they’re talking about.
For Politics, what they do well is connecting students and making sure that discuss happens on each of the topics so students have the opportunity to discuss what they’re learning, and applying that to things happening contemporarily. Something they don’t do as well, it can be hard to understand the grading because it can be kind of subjective.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It tends to be more collaborative in terms of students studying together, sharing notes, and wanting to work with each other to get things done. Based on the types of students that Centre attracts, it can be competitive early in college.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re very accessible. They all have office hours, and if you can’t go they’re willing to make themselves available if you have a question or want to talk about life. I don’t think I’ve ever gone to a professor’s office asking a question about the class and they left without just talking about life in general. Not only are they accessible in talking about schoolwork, they care about you as a person.
Do you feel that people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
I think yes and no. My first instinct is to say yes because being a liberal arts school has a general vibe of wanting to talk about different things happening and different perspectives. But, I also think the accepted schools of thought are talked about a lot more than other ones.
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I originally thought I was going to be an Economics major, but I took a class and didn’t enjoy the topics. My plan right now is to go to law school, so I was thinking about what I wanted to do and had to think about getting some writing in, but I also really enjoyed math. I had a professor tell me to keep taking math until I got tired of it. Politics sets me up well for law school in terms of being able to read something, analyze it, and write something on it. Math provides a cool way to think using proofs, and law school requires you to be able to make an argument and to analytically go through the argument.

Reasons to Attend

1) The community of students, professors, or people from the community that you get to find here.
2) The academics. You’re going to go to a challenging school, but it’s well worth it and it’ll open a lot of doors for you.
3) Study abroad is a really big deal at Centre, and they make it easy to do so. My trips have been some of the best times of my life. [About 85% of students study abroad.]

Reasons Not to Attend

1) If you don’t like a small town.
2) If you want a really big school or like having a lot of people around.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Cheek and Evans Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: Breckinridge Hall with two roommates
Junior: Pearl Hall with three roommates
Senior: Pearl Hall with three roommates
What was your favorite living situation?
Definitely Pearl Hall. I think I’ve been pretty lucky with housing. Evans is pretty nice housing for a first-year, I had a really big room in Breckinridge, and Pearl is a big step up it feels like I’m living in a hotel.
How was transitioning from living in Louisville to Danville, Kentucky?
At first, it was a big difference given Louisville is much larger than Danville. Once I was able to get connected with people here in terms of church and school, it made coming to Danville a lot easier and more of a home. I studied abroad last semester, so not being in Danville for a couple of months felt weird because I started to miss people I met here.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I haven’t had any safety issues. I’d say our department of public safety has pretty good people who’re willing to help. If I did feel unsafe I could call them asking for a ride.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
The college puts on a couple of different events. CC After Dark brings in different activities the students can do. They’ve had an escape room, comedians, live karaoke, things like that. Greek life has a lot of parties almost every weekend during the normal school year. Fraternities and sororities also have philanthropy events on the weekends. I personally like to hang out with my friends and watch a movie or Netflix. If there is a CC After Dark I’ll usually swing by and get some food.
Are there any specific events you look forward to throughout the year?
I always look forward to live karaoke. Some people are actually good at singing and you would’ve never known it, or some people aren’t great but want to have a good time.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
I’d say that in my first and second-year Greek life dominated the options I thought I had on the weekends. I thought the only thing ever going on were parties the fraternity was hosting. As you get older it’s not as appealing, but it’s still an option.
How happy are you with the weekend activities or nightlife at your school? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I think I’d provide more opportunities for people to hang out together that weren’t Greek parties. Last year I got really frustrated because I didn’t want to go party but I thought that was the only place I could hang out with friends and have a good time other than sitting in my room watching TV.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
I met a couple of them by chance through mutual friends the first weekend when looking for things to do. I met some in my orientation groups, I have a friend through Baptist Campus Ministry, and met a couple of friends studying abroad.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Centre?
It’s pretty cliquey. Everyone has a group or two that they really hang out with. There are athletes that hang out with their teammates. There are a lot of people within Greek life who just hang out with their brothers or sisters, and there are people in clubs that hang out with other people from that club.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
In terms of races, there isn’t a whole lot. Looking at the freshman and sophomores this year, people of different races hang out more but there’s still a sense of otherness. For sexual orientation, I’d say most people hang out with everyone. [The undergraduate population is 72% White, 5% Black, 7% Hispanic, and 5% Asian.]
How would you describe the Black community on campus? How strong is it?
In my first couple of years, it was pretty strong. But, it’s gotten weaker because people who were older and had been the main defenders of the community graduated.
How strong is the community of faith at Centre? How would you describe it?
It’s in general pretty weak. There is the Centre Christian Fellowship, but that group is notorious for being cliquey and not as outgoing as most people would expect. If you aren’t really in that community you kind of feel like an outsider. In the Baptist Campus Ministry, we are a strong community within our group, but it’s hard because there’s only about ten of us.
How would you describe the student body?
Most students at Centre fall within a range of being super studious and really care about their grades a lot. A lot of people are outgoing on the surface, but not always beneath the surface. A lot of people will say hi because you have a class with them, but you don’t actually know them.
How do you like the size of Centre? How has that impacted your experience? [Centre has about 1,500 undergraduates.]
I think it’s the perfect size for someone like me who enjoys getting to know a lot of people, but don’t want to feel obligated to know them super well. The class sizes make for a good atmosphere. You can ideally get a lot of attention from a professor if you need it or want it, but also if you don’t necessarily like developing those relationships you don’t have to be super close to everyone. [The average class size is 18.]

Careers

What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
I used them to find internships in Danville. They sent me a really long list of all the attorneys in the area. They have looked over my resume more than once, helping me figure out how to fix it.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
I took a class where we used Excel to generate political statistics.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, accommodating was the office to your needs?
They make the process really easy. All I had to do all four years is go on their website to pay for tuition. When you fill out the FASFA, they also have a form. They send my financial aid to me directly so I don’t have to go through the process of figuring out what has and has not been renewed. They make it easy to deal with. [90% of students receive some kind of aid.]