Centre College
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Biology – pre-veterinarian track
Minor: Environmental Studies
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Heterosexual Female
Summary
I’m involved with the Centre Christian Fellowship and Baptist Campus Ministry on campus. I’m involved with the Pre-Veterinarian Society, and I’m involved with GEMS (Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science). I’m a tour guide, and I’m a Brown Fellows Scholar.
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Public high school outside of San Antonio, TX with about 750 students in the graduating class. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Biology – pre-veterinarian track
Minor: Environmental Studies
Extracurricular Activities: I’m involved with the Centre Christian Fellowship and Baptist Campus Ministry on campus. I’m involved with the Pre-Veterinarian Society, and I’m involved with GEMS (Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science). I’m a tour guide, and I’m a Brown Fellows Scholar.
Have any of your extracurricular activities had a particularly big impact on your experience?
The Christian Fellowship and GEMS have really impacted my experience. For GEMS, we go to a middle and elementary school where girls have STEM-based projects going on. Through Centre Christian Fellowship, we have service opportunities on and off-campus. I like the way the [Christian Fellowship] tries to engage with the Danville community. Several organizations I was involved in my first year were kind of in a bubble, and I enjoy getting involved in things that break that bubble.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
I’ve always had Chemistry or Biology labs, and every week I’ll have an exam in one of my classes. It’s always a different one, but now that I’m a senior we have fewer weekly quizzes. I don’t have a lot of problem sets unless it’s a lab. The exams, papers, and presentations make up the bulk of my final grades.
Is there anything you feel that your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
There are great faculty who are really approachable. I’m transdisciplinary so one of my favorite professors is the microbiology professor, but she’s also the biochemistry professor and does a lot of work with large-scale organisms. So, I also like that on the Biology side, there’s a wide range of expertise.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s definitely collaborative, and to some extent competitive, but not toward each other. If you’re a straight-A student in high school, it’s unlikely you’ll be a straight-A student at Centre, so you’re competitive with yourself to try and get good grades. With each other, there’s a lot more collaboration.
How accessible are your professors?
They are incredibly accessible. Most of my professors have set office hours I can go to, but a lot of times they’ll be there outside of the regular times and will be happy to have students come in too.
What has been your favorite part of Centre so far academically?
The professors. They’re really good at teaching and care a lot about people. They’re amazing mentors for me.
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I knew going into college I wanted to do something in the biological sciences, so I planned to all along. The more classes I took in the Biology department, the happier I became. It was probably the faculty that solidified my opinion.
Reasons to Attend
1) The ability to build close relationships with both your friends and your professors because of the small and amazing community.
2) We have an incredible study abroad program and I value it so much. [85% of students study abroad.]
3) You’ll be academically challenged. I think it’s worth it and it’ll prepare you for a wide variety of things because it’s liberal arts and the professors raise the bar.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you’re looking for a place that has a lot of amenities in the town, I wouldn’t necessarily go.
2) Don’t come if you’re looking for a place where it’s easy to get As. It’s really hard to make an A at Centre.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Acheson Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: I studied abroad in the fall. In the spring, I lived in Stuart Hall with one roommate.
Junior: Pearl Hall in a single with three other suitemates
Senior: Pearl Hall in a single with three other suitemates
How was transitioning from living outside of San Antonio, TX to Danville, Kentucky?
It was definitely different. I lived in a ranch in the middle of nowhere so I always had to drive to get anywhere. In Danville, it’s a small town but I can walk to a coffee shop. Getting used to seeing people all of the time was a lot. Also, transitioning to only having small-town amenities, versus where I lived in Texas you could find almost anything.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I’ve always felt extremely safe, even at parties at the fraternity houses and walking around late at night. Off-campus I probably wouldn’t walk around by myself at night, but I wouldn’t do that anywhere.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
My first year I went to the fraternity houses, but we got bored with those. For the most part, my roommates and I will just hang out in the dorms, or we might go for trivia night or to a brewery in town. On campus, there’s a Student Activities Council (SAC) that puts on events so we’ll swing by there and check it out. If I’m in a club I’ll do stuff with them throughout the week. It’s pretty much homework and activities throughout the week, and then hanging out [on the weekends.]
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
It’s definitely the main focus. All of the fraternities can have parties and sometimes the sororities too. It’s kind of the only party scene unless you just hang out in your room and do something with friends. That seemed like the only thing I could be doing when I came in as a first-year. But, going to fraternity house parties aren’t the most fun for me, so I had to learn that just because it seems like it’s the only thing to do doesn’t mean it is. You have to be a little creative with other options for things to do. At first, you might feel a little isolated, but then once you realize a lot of people actually don’t like going to the fraternities in your sophomore or junior year, you stop overthinking it and find other things you actually like doing.
How happy are you with the weekend activities or nightlife at your school? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’d definitely like to see more things in town and off-campus. It’d be cool if people engaged with the community more. There’s a place in town that does trivia night on Mondays, but Mondays aren’t a great night for college students. If they did it on a Friday or Saturday I know that would get students more involved in town and not just in their own rooms or fraternity houses. I wouldn’t say I’m particularly happy with the weekend options, but I think in the last two years student organizations are doing more to come up with different alternative party options, and those have been really fun.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
A lot of them were through my scholarship cohort. Others were people who lived in the same building as me, were in my orientation group, or if I had classes with them.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Centre?
It’s kind of weird because it’s so small and you see people every day. You walk across campus and you’ll run into ten people you know no matter what. Your actual close group of friends is different than those you just generally know, and so if you’re staying with a fraternity, sorority, or a sports team, it can be kind of cliquish. For me, it’s been easy to break out of that by saying hi to different people. It hasn’t felt isolating for me, but I’ve heard how it can be that way, depending on if you limit yourself to talking to people within your organization.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I think they do mix with other groups no matter what because it’s so small. You’ll go to an event with people or have classes with people who are different than you, and everybody’s okay with that. The harder part for some people at Centre is actually making real friendships with people different than them, instead of sticking to what’s familiar. We have Building Bridges and Community Day where classes are shortened and in the afternoon we do activities that are all based on diversity and inclusion. You definitely interact with people and have meaningful conversations that way, it’s just a matter of continuing those beyond what the office of diversity and inclusion has programmed. [The undergraduate population is 72% White, 5% Black, 7% Hispanic, and 5% Asian.]
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
They mix a lot actually. Very few of our Greek life people live in the houses. At least one of my roommates all four years has been affiliated, and I’m not. They also don’t rush until after the first semester so you get to know people before putting a letter on a shirt.
How do you like the size of Centre? How has that impacted your experience? [Centre has about 1,500 undergraduates.]
The things I love and don’t love about Centre come from it being small. I love to be able to say hi to ten people I know as I walk to class. I love feeling comfortable approaching anyone in my classes seeing if they want to study because I’ve probably already had a conversation with them before. My professors know me by name and know what I’m involved in because it’s so small. Also, having gone to a bigger high school where it’s harder to form a clique in a bigger place, it’s more common for people to stick to the group they’re familiar with because it’s small. That part isn’t so great. It takes a very active role in each person to try and break that if they don’t want it to be part of their experience.
Do people generally seem happy with Centre by senior year? Do people leave loving Centre?
Yeah. I don’t know anybody who is ready to be done because they hate it. There are probably things people are ready to be done with, but everybody I know has loved their experience.
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
I got an internship my freshman year through the alumni network. I wanted to do veterinary work and there’s a Centre graduate in town who I worked with. The internships I’ve been looking into have been very internationally-based because of my scholarship. [The alumni network] worked when I was trying to do stuff locally, but I was reaching beyond the limits of what is reasonable. Like, there aren’t many Centre alumni doing veterinary work in Mongolia.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
I’ve used them for editing and helping me out with my resume and cover letter. They’ve also been useful for practicing interviews and have connected me to various post-graduate scholarships.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
Definitely Excel. There’s also a biological statistics software I’ve used.
Financial Aid
Have you used financial aid? If so, accommodating was the office to your needs?
I haven’t used it to fund school, but I did an internship where they paid for my travel costs in terms of gas and food. It was a really easy application and they gave me a check to cover it. [90% of students receive some kind of aid.]