Earlham College

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Psychology
Minor: African and African American Studies
Student Self Identifies as: Southeast Asian Straight Female

Summary

I’m a [varsity athlete], and I’m part of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Southeast Asian
Sexual Orientation: Straight

High School Experience: Public high school in Montclair, CA with a graduating class of about 600 students. There wasn’t necessarily a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: Psychology
Minor: African and African American Studies

Extracurricular Activities: I’m a [varsity athlete], and I’m part of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
Playing a sport in college has a really big impact on me because it was a built-in family when I got to Earlham. I wasn’t as scary as coming in not knowing anyone because I had this group who had connections to other friends.

Academic Experience

Can you describe the weekly coursework for your major?
My weekly work is usually a lot of reading and writing essays. There aren’t many problem sets, it’s more about taking notes and retaining that information, then applying it on exams. There is a lot of group work throughout the week. The majority of the assignment are exams and projects. Everything else is minor.
Is there anything you feel that your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
Being a Psychology major, it’s interesting because I’m able to apply everything I learn daily with the people know. I took a sports psychology class and I was injured throughout the season, so I was able to help my team get as far as we did with that information.
How would you describe the learning environment? Is it particularly competitive or collaborative?
I think it’s very competitive, but that might just be because of the person I am and the people I surround myself with. Most of the time people want to be the best so there is a competitive vibe.
How accessible are your professors?
Extremely accessible. I think that’s the best part about going to a liberal arts school. I don’t have to make an appointment to go see them, I can walk right up to their office and see if they’re there. If they are they can usually talk, but if not, I can email them and a lot of them will give you their phone numbers.
Do you feel that people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
Yes, I do. Earlham is very accepting and the professors always try stimulating conversation in the classroom. When you’re a freshman you take a seminar, and the majority of it is conversation based on some reading or assignment. Everyone talks back and forth and people are very open. No one is closed-minded, especially with everyone being younger.
How was transitioning academically as a first-generation college student? Are there systems in place that help you transition?
There’s a program called LIFT for first-generation students that I didn’t know about. The resources weren’t projected out to me which sucks, but transitioning academically was tough. I went from high school where I was getting all A’s, to college where I had newfound freedom and my GPA dropped the first semester. My teammates who’ve already gone through it helped me the most. A lot of it was me talking to my professors and asking for help when I needed it.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I initially wanted to be a lawyer, so I was going to major in political science. I didn’t declare my major and couldn’t get into the Introduction to Politics class. The following year, I decided I didn’t want to do it anymore, and I switched around to be a business major. I took one class and it bored me to death. I took a few Psychology classes and fell in love with it. I loved how I could use the information every day. I loved the professors and thought I could still be a lawyer as a Psychology major. I decided this year I no longer wanted to go to law school, I want to get my master’s in psychology and work with children and families. I’m very happy with my choice.

Reasons to Attend

1) The small class sizes and the one on one experience with your professors. [The average class size is 13.5.]
2) The student life. Everyone is super nice.
3) The sports. It’s fun to go watch and you’ll make friends doing that.
4) The campus is so beautiful. Everything is always kept up with.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) The location and weather. It’s kind of in the middle of nowhere which is hard to deal with.
2) It’s really expensive. [Total costs in 2020-21 for domestic students are about $59,000.]

Around Campus

Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Bundy Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: Barret Hall in a single as a peer mentor
Junior: Mills Hall in a single with two teammates
How was transitioning from Montclair, CA to Richmond, Indiana?
It was weird because where I live you can drive from city to city and everything is very accessible within minutes. In Indiana, there’s Richmond and you have to drive another 20-minutes to another small town. I came without a car which was also hard because I couldn’t go wherever I needed. I think the hardest part for me was the weather. I live in Southern California where it’s sunny all the time. In Indiana, it’s cold and rainy or snowing.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I feel extremely safe on campus because everyone on campus is open to helping. I don’t go around the city as much at night. I do know there are issues with crime just as there would be anywhere else. Public safety always sends out alerts when something suspicious is going around.

Social Opportunities

What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you like to participate in?
There’s not a lot that we do as athletes. There are parties on the weekend, but it’s only on Saturday nights and they’re not crazy. We’ll hang out together and do team bonding stuff. Once you’re 21, there are bars around town. We’ll go to the movie theater sometimes. The parties are usually at one of the campus houses on College Avenue, which is our version of Greek life.
Who hosts the parties?
The parties are usually hosted by people who aren’t athletes.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
On-campus there is usually some type of performance every semester. The biggest one for us is called Dance Alloy, so we all went as a team and we had recruits on campus too. Everyone knows who’s dancing and we cheer for them. Other things are happening during the holidays.
How happy are you with the weekend activities or nightlife at Earlham? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I think the weekend options are fine. I was wild during my freshman year just like everyone else, but I’ve chilled out a lot. As a junior, my favorite weekend option is to stay in my room and do homework [laughs], but my teammates drag me out. It’s a good mixture. If I was at a bigger college I could see myself going out more and not doing my work as much, but there are times we all let loose a little bit still.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
Through my sport.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
People don’t even pay attention to that. The majority of the time people just talk to each other and no one asks what you are or what you like. Earlham is very diverse with its international students, so I’d say everyone mixes a lot. You can also see the small groups of people, for instance, we have and all Black floor in one of our dorms. Our biggest separation would be between sports and non-athletes. [The undergraduate population is 7% Black, 49% White, 3% Asian, 22% international, and 8% Hispanic.]
To what extent do athletes and non-athletes mix socially?
It’s really not a lot. There’s a lot of tension between athletes and non-athletes because they see use as getting special treatment, but we really don’t. We register at the same time, and our assignments are due at the same time as everyone else’s. It’s not so bad to where we think that we’re special and don’t talk to anyone else. We try to mix and get students to come to our games, and we’ll go to whatever their extracurricular activities are. But it can be difficult because we usually have games on Saturdays and then Sundays off.
How would you describe the Asian community on campus? How strong is it?
It’s pretty strong. We have lots of diverse students internationally. The Asian population makes up a good portion of it, but it depends on where they’re from and if they’ll mix with everyone else.
How do you like the size of Earlham in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has it impacted your experience? [Earlham has about 1,000 undergraduates.]
I initially was skeptical about going to Earlham because I wanted to go to a big-name school with 30,000 students because I thought that would be better for me. The smaller population and class sizes are a huge benefit, especially when it comes to having one on one interactions with your professors. It has its pros and cons, but I think it’s more beneficial because I have a lot of people outside my team I can ask for help from.
How would you describe the student body?
I think everyone is super friendly. When I first arrived, everyone was saying hi and smiling. Everyone is open to talking to you and helping you out.

Careers

What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
I’ve used them for finding things I needed to fill out to go abroad. They’ve helped a lot, especially with developing my resume. I was initially going to Greece this semester, but I switched options to go to Philadelphia through their semester-long internship program. They gave us a check for this upcoming semester in Philadelphia, which is super awesome. There’s the EPIC program which is a fully-funded internship they provide us. I also just got accepted into our Dominican Republic program working with children in underdeveloped hospitals. [See off-campus study opportunities here.]
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
I have learned a little bit of SPSS and JASP.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how accommodating was the office to your needs?
I chose Earlham because they gave me the most financial aid out of all the other colleges and universities I applied to. The office is difficult to deal with and I feel like they don’t understand what’s going on half the time, or they’ll mess up our charges sometimes. It’s irritating having to walk across campus to talk to them, but other than that, they’re friendly and nice.