Knox College
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Majors: Computer Science and Business & Management Double Major
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: White Heterosexual Male
Summary
I’m a student-athlete, the Union Board, I’m a resident assistant, and a Computer Science tutor.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Public high school in Colorado Springs, CO with about 350 students in the graduating class. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Majors: Computer Science and Business & Management Double Major
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I’m a student-athlete, the Union Board, I’m a resident assistant, and a Computer Science tutor.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
Yeah, I’d say it has a big impact because of the time I spend on them. They’ve taught me a lot of time management, it’s gotten me more socially engaged maintaining relationships with my residence and the other RAs. Athletics is a big part of how I set up my routine, how I’m engaged on campus, and has a huge impact on my social life.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your majors?
For Computer Science, it really depends on the courses. Knox is on the trimester system, so we use three classes as the standard. I try to take two Computer Science courses and one business course. Some courses have a lot of short coding exercises and quizzes with about a week or two to do them, and a big project at the end of the unit. For the more theoretical information, they help you think about what’s happening behind the scenes. A lot of those courses also have mathematical proofs. Other times that’ll still be implemented in the language, but it’s more so about how well you understand those concepts.
For Business, each course has been different. Economics was a lot of graphs, and Accounting was a lot of tables and reading the textbook with weekly online tests. In Financial Math, there were a couple of challenging problems that we were encouraged to work on together. My Financial Math course only had 16 people in it, so I got to know those other people and collaboration was easy to administer. [The average class size is 14 students.]
Is there anything you feel that either of your majors’ departments do especially well or poorly?
I love the professors. They’ve been easy to work with and if you take the time and put in the effort you can really stand out. By the end of my first year, they were already sending me personalized information, brochures, and booklets about my specific information. They can write recommendation letters or let me know about internship opportunities. I appreciated the mentoring I was able to get from all of them.
How would you describe the learning environment? Is it particularly competitive or collaborative?
For the most part, it’s collaborative. I don’t think it’s toxic in any way. There are a lot of international students and everyone brings their own perspective to it, but the environment created at the school is pretty healthy. Everyone is interested in their own thing and the professors encourage this. There are so many avenues in the major that everyone can be an expert in their own thing, so you don’t have to compete with everyone else. There are high achievers trying to get good internships and jobs, so there is a drive and energy for working hard, but it’s not expressed against the classmates.
Why did you choose your majors? Are you happy with your choice?
I’ve like computer science since I got into it. I discovered it late in high school. Once I saw what I could build with programming, I saw some real potential there. Cybersecurity seems like one of those fields where you’re dealing with incredible issues, but you don’t need to get a doctorate to engage in those issues. You can make an impact in an important field that’ll shape how everyone lives.
Business came from an interest in personal finance and the FIRE movement about how we can optimize our lives and invest our income to prepare ourselves for our future. I think business is an important part of our society and is the easiest way to change the world.
Reasons to Attend
1) For me, the StartUp term was a big thing. It’s geared toward design, computer science, and business, but everybody is allowed to go. They give you support and mentoring. It’s a super great learning experience.
2) The small classes and the small school allow you to engage better with the people around you.
3) The diversity is great. I love having a heavy international campus. I feel like I’ve learned so much for each of those people.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) It’s expensive. [Total costs in 2020-21 are about $60,144.]
2) It’s in a super small town and you’re isolated.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Hamblin Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: RA in in the first-year area in a single.
How was transitioning from Colorado Springs to Galesburg, Illinois?
I like it and the weather works out well for me. It’s a little more humid in Galesburg, but I’m not there during the summer so it’s not a huge deal. It gets pretty cold, which I enjoy. In terms of the town, Galesburg is really small which works well for me because I hardly leave campus at all. I’m happy being on campus working and hanging out with friends. Sometimes people go to Chicago for the weekend if they want to get away.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
It’s a pretty open and friendly campus. I’ve never felt threatened, and I don’t know anyone that has.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
I’m a pretty quiet and low-key person, especially when [my sport] is in season. In-season, I’m usually working on homework on Friday and Saturday nights, so I can’t go out a do too much crazy stuff. There’s a pretty active fraternity life and they have some sort of activity going on each weekend. The Union Board tries to bring in a whole lot of events. They’ll bring in one to two comedians and musicians each trimester and they try to have at least one event every weekend. They’ll bring in musicians, host festivals, or bingo and trivia night. I don’t go to a ton of parties because I’m too busy, but they’re around.
What have been some of your favorite times at Knox?
One of the famous things about Knox is what they call Flunk Day. It’s a day in spring term when all classes and athletic practices get canceled, but you don’t find out until 6:00 AM. They bring in carnival games, floats, and end it with some concert at night. It’s a great de-stress time near the end of the year. In the fall term, we do something called Day of Dialogue, where classes are canceled but in the afternoon, we have these discussions. We talk about big and interesting challenges that people are facing. Those topics are predetermined and everybody comes to share their experiences. It’s not a debate and there are no arguments. You’re there to learn about what other people think and why.
How happy are you with the weekend activities or nightlife at your school? Is there anything you would change if you could?
It works out for me because I don’t like leaving my room too much. My favorite social time is just talking to friends. I like having good conversations where we’re learning. I know others have a few more complaints, but it works out for me.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
I met my best friend through the First-Year Preceptorial. Every first-year takes a course their first trimester which is a dialogue discussion course with a faculty member. It’s a reading and writing course, but the professor usually has a different background. It tackles some broad and interesting questions. My preceptorial was on science fiction and human identity. We read Frankenstein and Brave New World to look at where the line of humanity is through fiction. I met other friends through being an RA.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Knox?
I like it because of the diversity. We’re about [17%] international so I feel like I learn so much from them. Those groups have their own cliques where they are comfortable supporting each other because it’s a crazy new place for them, but then there’s also great engagement and cross-talk from people of different backgrounds. All the athletes are pretty close, then the fraternities and sororities are outlets for people trying to make friends. I don’t feel like anybody dominates. I feel like everybody has friends outside of one organization. You don’t need to join any one group, you can pick and choose the people you meet. Everybody has some group that interests them.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
It’s pretty good. We’re still a White-dominated campus, but a lot of my friends are international. They have their cliques and get to know each other, but I’m friends with them and they’re always communicating with other people. Knox is socially aware and is trying to break down those barriers to understand each other. There are no divisions and people are happy to engage. A couple of weeks into winter term we do I-Fair, which is a week-long of activities geared toward exposing international cultures. [The undergraduate population is 8% African American, 5% Asian, 15% Hispanic, and 17% International.]
How do you like the size of Knox? How has that impacted your experience? [Knox has about 1,300 undergraduates.]
I really enjoy the small classes and being able to talk to professors and learn from them directly. I like that you can stand out if you want, and you can’t sink into the background if you want to. Everyone is involved.
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
I was invited to and participated in the Knox Business Intensive Seminar where we stayed four days after classes ended. We went through a seminar about business topics such as taxes, start-up companies, and financial analysis, which resulted in a presentation to alumni about the company and what we thought they needed to change or do to improve their financial status. I’ve communicated with a few about internships for this upcoming summer. They’ve been super friendly, even the ones I haven’t met in person.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
They’ve been super helpful. Our new director is turning the office into a super valuable utility. He sends me personalized recommendations when he finds things I’m interested in. He’s putting me in contact with other people at companies I might be interested in.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
The first introductory courses are taught in Java for us to learn from. This last trimester we went to C#, we learned Ruby, and then Closure. Next trimester I’m going to work with Unity, which is designed for game design. In the meantime, I’m trying to teach myself stuff I’m trying to go into.