Grinnell College

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Psychology – with a concentration in Neuroscience
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Hispanic Bisexual Female

Summary

I’m part of the Latinx student organization. I’m also part of a few committees, including the student Technology and the Student-Staff Council, which is the middleman between students and professional staff. Aside from that, kickboxing is big on campus, and I play the violin in the orchestra.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual

High School Experience: Public school outside of Northern Virginia with a graduating class of about 200 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: Psychology – with a concentration in Neuroscience
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I’m part of the Latinx student organization. I’m also part of a few committees, including the student Technology and the Student-Staff Council, which is the middleman between students and professional staff. Aside from that, kickboxing is big on campus, and I play the violin in the orchestra.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
I think the Student-Staff Council has made a really big impact on my experience. As a first-generation college student and as a person of color, I felt like my voice wasn’t heard very much through college. Being part of it has allowed me to have bigger conversations advocating for students like and not like me. I can actually make real change within the college because I’m able to have these conversations with professional staff who can make bigger changes in policy.

Academic Experience

Can you describe the weekly coursework for your major?
We don’t have a lot of exams or problem sets. It’s mostly based on reading research papers and running experiments. We also spend time on writing papers. For my senior seminar, I have a 20-page paper academic research paper to turn in by the end of the semester.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
It’s incredibly good at tying in social and biological sciences. My department is good at helping us put into practice what we’ve been learning. We do a lot of hands-on experiments, and since there are small class sizes we each participate in each part of the experiment. We do a lot of things in the community where we take what we’ve learned and translate it into common language. For example, when people in the eighth grade come, we can speak with them about psychological concepts.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
The learning environment for my major is very collaborative, but the overall learning environment at the college is competitive. With that being said, the competition comes with a sense that we’re all in this together, and we’re going to help each other get through it.
How accessible are your professors?
Extremely accessible. They have office hours and are willing to meet with you. If you email them, they’re more than happy to meet with you the same day or the next day. Some professors go as far as being accessible through text while we’re doing experiments.
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice so far?
I’m extremely happy with my choice. At Grinnell we have First-Year Tutorial, which is the only required course we have to take at Grinnell. Mine was on exploring autism. It made me understand more about psychology and how it can apply to vulnerable populations. My current advisor was my professor for the class, and at one point was the head of the department, which is how I came about choosing my major.
How was transitioning academically as a first-generation college student? Are there systems in place that help you transition?
My transition into college was extremely difficult. I came in as one of those kids who did well in high school without trying very hard. Coming into college, that didn’t work for me because Grinnell is very difficult. I was part of a remediation program because my GPA was low my first semester. It’s supposed to help you with scheduling and time management, but that wasn’t my problem. They ended up helping me contact offices that helped me with science and math, and helped create continuous conversations with the professors I currently have.

Reasons to Attend

1) The small class sizes.
2) The financial aid department is wonderful.
3) The people are incredibly passionate and smart.
4) The buildings are wonderful. There’s so much money here and it’s been used to make the school aesthetically beautiful. The dorms are pretty good in my opinion.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) If a student is struggling with mental health. It’s difficult for students to get the help they need.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Norris Hall with one roommate.
Sophomore: Main Hall with one roommate.
Junior: Haines Hall working as the Community Advisor in a single.
Senior: Loose Hall working as the Community Advisor in a single.
How was transitioning from Northern Virginia to Grinnell, IA?
It became more challenging as time went on. The novelty of coming to a really small town from a big city was good for me in the beginning, but during my third and fourth year it was difficult dealing with how there isn’t much going on. It becomes kind of a drag over the four years. I know a lot of people go abroad during their third year, which really helps with not feeling bogged down by the environment.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I feel safe on campus all the time. I haven’t had a reason to feel unsafe outside of campus. That being said, it is a majority White community, and being the only person of color can make you feel uneasy.

Social Opportunities

What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you participate in at Grinnell?
I like to go out and have drinks with my friends on the weekends, and there are usually parties off-campus on Fridays and Saturdays. Aside from that, I also participate in exercise activities such as kickboxing on the weekends. We have a club called GORP, which goes out on hikes and camps. I get together with friends off-campus at night.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out
A lot of people like going to the Strand Theatre to watch movies. I also know a lot of people go out to eat at the different restaurants around here because they usually have good specials for college students. We also have the Weekend Club, which creates free events on the weekends such as nerf gun battles or flashlight tag on the fields.
How happy are you with the nightlife options at Grinnell? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m pretty happy with the options. If anything, I’d change the amount of restaurants available.
How has identifying as LGBT influenced your nightlife experience? Are there any LGBT nightlife options that you like to go to?
There are random events that happen. We have a pretty big and close Queer community on campus, and a lot of the time they throw events, maybe once a month. People get together on campus and enjoy the community.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
I came to college randomly with one of my best friends. Also, my first-year roommate and I became really close over the four years. We built friendships with our first-year neighbors through socializing on our hall.
How would you describe the overall social scene?
The social scene is good in that there’s always something to do. There’s always a choice whether you want substances to be involved or not. I think because we’re such a small school, people can get tired of the same thing happening over and over again. Once you go to one party, it’s like you’ve been to every party. If you don’t make the experience different for yourself, it can be boring.
To what extent do you feel people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I think there aren’t barriers between people of different sexual orientations. When talking about race, I think that’s very different. There is some self-imposed separation. There’s conversation within classrooms and social spaces like lunchrooms, but it’s pretty clear that there’s a divide between Black, White, and Hispanic students. Everyone respects each other, but we end up subcategorizing. I’m one of those floater people who have friends of a lot of different races. That’s not true of many people.
How would you describe the Hispanic community? How strong is it?
It’s extremely strong, to an extent where I felt like I wasn’t part of the Hispanic community on campus. I felt isolated from the community because they’re so tight-knit, but they’re incredibly welcoming to anybody. After realizing that, it was easy for me to be involved with them.
How would you describe the LGBTQ+ community? How strong is it?
There’s a large LGBTQ+ community at Grinnell college. It’s a very accepting place, and have been very accepting of different sexual orientations and gender differences. I wouldn’t say it’s extremely close. I’d say it’s large and vocal.
How do you like the size of Grinnell in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has that impacted your experience? [There are about 1,600 students.]
I loved it because my classes are extremely small and I’m someone who asks questions and needs to get one-on-one help on concepts when I don’t understand them. It’s been really important for my education to have classes that are less than twenty students. I’ve had classes with six people, and my largest class had twenty-six people. [Grinnell states that most classes have fewer than 20 students.]
Do you think people are generally happy with their choice of Grinnell? Do you think people leave loving Grinnell?
I think people wouldn’t change their choice to come to Grinnell. That being said, I think people are constantly trying to get Grinnell to be better for their students. I know a lot of people have been unhappy with the way mental health services are. There isn’t enough support at the college or in the town. It’s something people struggle with and really hate on. Sometimes people leave for that exact reason.

Careers

What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
They’ve been helpful while applying for internships. They’ve helped me with that process, but also helped with funding unpaid internships as well.
Have you learned any computer programs that will be helpful professionally?
I’ve used Stata, SPSS, Excel, Minitab, Photoshop, and Premier. There is a lot of hands-on work.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, accommodating was the office to your needs?
A lot of financial aid problems happen, especially because of my job. I’m a community advisor, and the stipend works weirdly. Every problem I’ve had I’ve gone to the financial aid office to talk to them and they’ve been really helpful and accommodating to my situation. I’ve never felt like I was in a place where I’d be kicked out because I couldn’t pay for something.