Connecticut College
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Government
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Straight Male
Summary
I’m a student-athlete and I’m a member of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Straight
High School Experience: Private school in Baltimore, MD with a graduating class of about 90 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Government
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I’m a student-athlete and I’m a member of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
The team gives you a launching point and a base group of friends for you to be involved with on campus. It also gives you structure and keeps your mind right so you can focus on your studies. It’s nice to have a schedule each day because otherwise I’d be lost with what I’m supposed to be doing.
Academic Experience
Can you describe the weekly coursework for your major?
It’s mostly a lot of reading, I probably have a couple of hundred pages of reading a week for all of my classes. I’ve also done some Public Health work so that involves some problem sets for the statistics classes and also a lot of reading. Sometimes there are short response papers to write, which aren’t too bad. At the end of the semester, you’ll have big essays but nothing that’s not manageable.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
The Government department can sometimes get a little lost with communication between the different courses. Sometimes you’ll be in courses that are kind of doing the same thing or the courses will contradict each other. It can be a negative because it’s frustrating as a student, it can also be a positive because you’ll have multiple points of view on the same subject. Politically, I think the department heavily leans to the left, so that will color some of the information you’re learning, but there are a few professors who do a good job of keeping it in the middle. That has helped broaden my opinions about politics and how these policies should fit into the country because the department’s goal is for you to understand how the system works in the U.S. or in other places around the world.
How would you describe the learning department? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
For Government, a lot of my classes aren’t lecture-based, they’re seminar-based, so each student contributes to each other’s learning. It feels collaborative in the sense that when I give a point and someone learns from that and when they say something, I’ll learn from that. In some of the Math courses it can be more competitive, but I think that’s a good thing because, at least for me as an athlete, I like to be in competition because it pushes you to do better and work harder. I don’t think it’s an unhealthy competition where you feel uncomfortable about it.
What has been your favorite class you’ve taken for your major?
A seminar called U.S. Political Speech. I was a breakdown of how the president uses his public addresses, speeches, and press conferences to show how he is seen through the public. It shows us how words can be used and how using certain words and communication style the president can mobilize voters for your cause or mobilize them against your cause. We looked at past presidents and learned why they were such good public speakers and how that influences the power they have.
What has been your least favorite class you’ve taken for your major?
I don’t have a least favorite course, I’ve enjoyed all of them. Even if I was struggling or didn’t particularly like the course material or the professor, because all of the students are contributing it felt like you were in it together. The students push you to enjoy the company of the other students and can sometimes plug in the holes of where the teacher doesn’t teach you.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I ended up taking a course with the same professor I took U.S. Political Speech freshman year. I originally came in thinking I would be pre-med and go on to medical school, but I was just not smart enough for that and didn’t want to go through everything that was involved with that. I realized that I’m really interested in health care policy and to get started in that I needed to understand the basis of government policy. I took the course and found a huge interest in that and it snowballed into becoming a major. I’m definitely happy with my choice because it’s opened my eyes up to a lot and has provided me with an interesting background for what I want to do in the future in the healthcare world because it’s a little different than having a medical background.
Reasons to Attend
(1) It’s a great academic institution.
(2) If you’re an athlete, you’re part of the NESCAC which is a very competitive athletic conference.
(3) I think the career office really sets you up well with their funding for unpaid internships the summer after your junior year in a field that you’re interested in.
(4) You’ll make lifelong friends wherever you go to college, but, because it’s such a small school, you’ll make more lifelong friends because you’re going to know everybody, which I enjoy.
Reasons Not to Attend
(1) If you want to be in a bigger place, I don’t think Conn is for you.
(2) If you want to live off-campus, all the housing is on campus.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Freeman with one roommate.
Sophomore: Park in the Plex. We lived in an alcove of four single rooms and a bathroom, so I had four suitemates.
Junior: Wright in the Plex. It was the same style as Park where we had four singles and a bathroom in an alcove.
Senior: Winchester House, which is an independent living option, three other guys.
What was your favorite living situation?
Park because we had our own bathroom and we had air conditioning. Freeman is a great place to live, I just didn’t live there in a single. I think if I had a single that would be my number one because South Campus is a lot of fun.
Can you describe the level of safety you have experienced on and around campus?
I’m a pretty large person so it’s hard for me to be afraid of things. Especially on campus, I feel very safe. Sometimes New London can sometimes be sketchy, but it’s nothing somebody from a city wouldn’t be used to.
What’s your favorite off-campus restaurant?
Hot Rods, it’s the best wings I’ve ever had.
What’s your favorite place to get away from campus?
Mohegan Sun, not because I like to gamble but there are a lot of stores and restaurants to go to and it’s far enough away from campus you feel like you’re in a different place.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
My nightlife is very athletic team-based. A lot of the times I’ll be with my team doing something, whether that’s going to one of the on-campus apartments or to a bar. People go to the bars mostly on Thursday nights but that also sometimes happens on Fridays too. It’s nice that there’s always something fun to attend whether it’s on-campus or off-campus.
What nights of the week do you regularly go out?
Thursday night is a bar night. Friday night is a more relaxed night and we will go somewhere on campus to hang out. Saturdays when it’s nice out, which is only in the fall or late in the spring, there is a day party-type atmosphere during the day, and then at night maybe we’ll go to a bar, maybe there’s a party on campus at the Ridges, or the school puts on dances.
Can you describe a typical night going out freshman year when you were less socially established?
We’d eat dinner and then go hang out in a dorm room and maybe play some video games. Then maybe we’d go down to the Ridges or if it’s a bar night we’d go directly from our room to meet everybody there. If it isn’t an 18+ bar night, there will also be stuff going on on-campus so you can probably find something to do because there will be a lot of people who can’t get in. It’s hard not being 21 because the bar scene is a pretty big part of the nightlife.
How happy are you with the weekend options at Conn? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I wish that we could be on campus more and that the school was more accepting of us being on campus and using spaces for parties. That would let us have a bit more variety because it does sometimes get old when you are in such a routine. Outside of that, I’m very happy with it. I have a lot of fun and I really enjoy it.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
One of my best friends was in another one of my friend’s freshman year classes and I’ll live with him next year. I met a lot of people through him too and I’ll be living with people I met through him next year. I also met a lot of people through my team and consider them all close friends.
How would you describe the overall social scene?
I would say all of the athletes go out together, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go out with the athletes if you don’t play a sport. People start being friends with their respective athletic teams and then spread out to be friends with everybody when you get older. Everybody does enjoy being in everybody else’s company, it just starts in smaller pockets which is to be expected.
To what extent do you feel people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I think that’s something we as a student body have to work on. I don’t think mixing is done super well and can be sort of a problem, but it’s something that has gotten continuously better over the years and will hopefully continue on that track.
How would you describe the student body?
To be blunt, it’s mostly White and affluent. But, the campus is getting more diversity to reflect more of what you see around the country. [About 71% of students at Connecticut College are White. The median family income is $197,800. 31% of the Class of 2022 were students of color, the most ever in a single class.]
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
The alumni network hasn’t specifically helped me find an internship or job.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful are they?
The career office has done a good job of connecting me with things that I need to look at, whether that is alumni or looking into taking the GRE. They’ve definitely done a good job of helping me get to that next level.
Have you learned any computer programs that will be helpful professionally?
Not at school. I’m not a big computer person so I haven’t looked into that. But, in statistics I’ve fine-tuned some of my Excel skills.