Hendrix College

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: History
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Black Heterosexual Female

Summary

I’m part of the on-campus bible study, Students for Black Culture (SBC) and I’m part of Student Outreach Alternative Resources (SOAR). With SOAR, we are mentors to first-generation college students and homesick students. We also give alternative events every Saturday for people who don’t like the party scene.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Black
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

High School Experience: Public charter school in West Helena, AR with a graduating class of about 30 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: History
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I’m part of the on-campus bible study, Students for Black Culture (SBC) and I’m part of Student Outreach Alternative Resources (SOAR). With SOAR, we are mentors to first-generation college students and homesick students. We also give alternative events every Saturday for people who don’t like the party scene.
Have any of your extracurricular activities had a particularly big impact on your experience?
SOAR has because we really help people. It helps you reach out beyond the people you normally talk to and really connect with people on campus who wouldn’t approach you in an open, everyday setting.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
On a normal week, I’ll have maybe 300 pages of reading and a four-page essay. But, with midterms, there are closer to three essays due in the week.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
In terms of especially well, we get a really versatile understanding of the world. We learn about the histories of different cultures and countries. But, we don’t focus much on American history, so if you came from a high school where you didn’t get to learn about a certain issue in American history, you’re not going to learn that about Hendrix.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s both. It’s competitive in the sense that it’s self-driven competition. But, we’re always told to discuss with others and collaborate, and group discussion is really important in the classroom.
How accessible are your professors?
They are really accessible. If you need to meet with them outside of office hours, you can just email them and they’ll work around your schedule.
What has been your favorite class you’ve taken for your major so far?
My favorite class was called Doing History. We took three important global history events and reenacted it. Every student had a different aspect of the government they represented and we debated the issues using their points of view. Some of the issues we debated were if the country needs a new constitution and how we are going to fund the economy. It was really fun because you got to see how hard it is to make a decision in stressful situations and learn how to cooperate with everybody instead of thinking of just one person.
Do you feel people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
Yes. In my Gender and Sexuality class, our final project is based on the diversity of all of our majors. In each group, there was one humanities person, one English person, one math person, and one science person so we all got to see how we each processed information.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I’m very happy with my choice. Before I got to Hendrix, I wanted to be a journalism or communications major, but the school doesn’t offer that. I figured that history is my favorite subject so I took a class my first semester and loved it, so I decided that’s what I would do.
How was transitioning academically as a first-generation college student? Were there any resources available that helped you adjust?
Hendrix is really good about that. They have the first-Generation program [called 1stGEN@HDX] and it helps you understand how things will go in college and introduces you to all the resources available on campus. The library is also helpful because that’s where the Writing Center and the Math Help Center are. We also have tutors for pretty much every topic you could need. That was really good. The biggest thing for me was learning what works for me for studying in college.

Reasons to Attend

1) You get great opportunities.
2) Hendrix has a really good reputation in Arkansas.
3) There are really nice people at Hendrix. You’ll never feel alone. You can just go out and mingle with people.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) It’s really small. You can get frustrated with that if you don’t want everybody to know your business or be in your business.
2) The administration has been going through some changes and sometimes public safety can be in your business. [See Hendrix Profile article, “Hendrix’s Hiring Freeze” and article, “Room searches, Alcohol Policy Cause for Concern.”]

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Raney Hall in a single. I did not like Raney, it had cockroaches.
Sophomore: Veasey Hall in a single. It was fine.
Junior: McCreight House, which is the house for my scholarship group. You have to apply to live there. It’s so nice.
How was transitioning from living in your hometown to Conway, AR in terms of location?
That was really hard and I experienced culture shock. My hometown was predominantly Black, so being in Conway, which is predominantly White, and seeing so many White people makes me sometimes feel like I don’t fit in here. Once you get used to it, it’s fine. [About 68% of residents in Conway, AR are White.]
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
On campus, I feel very safe. Campus safety is always walking around and if you don’t feel safe, you can call them and they can come pick you up. Around Conway, I generally feel safe but people do catcall if you’re walking outside of campus, so that’s kind of irritating. Other than that, I don’t feel like I could be in harm.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
If I’m not doing homework, I’m hanging out with my friends or going to parties. If I go to a party, it’s one of the school-sanctioned parties that organizations host or we have parties in one of the boys’ dorms. Also, now that I’m older, I go to more apartment parties.
What is the impact of sports teams on the nightlife at Hendrix?
They determine what parties the majority of the school goes to. Like, if there is a school party and one of the sports teams also has a party, everybody will go to the sports team’s party and not the school’s organized party. That can be irritating because if you’re the group hosting the party and put in work to put it on and then another team throws a party, everybody will go to that party.
What is an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
The group that I’m a part of, SOAR, is really big on having alternative events. If there is a party on campus that I don’t want to go to, I’ll just go to one of those events. We go play mini-golf, go to the zoo, or tomorrow we’re having a party where we carve pumpkins and tell scary stories.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
Now that Martin is closed [for renovations], it’s been kind of boring on campus and it’s been dead on the weekends. If we had another building that we felt comfortable having fun in, I think it would be better. But, it has worked out because we’ve had more participation in the SOAR events. [See Hendrix Profile article, “The Future of Residence Parties.”]

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
One of my best friends I met through mutual friends and another best friend I knew in middle school, so I already knew her before coming here. Everybody else I’ve met by having a class with them or just interacting on campus.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Hendrix?
Hendrix is really open and inclusive. Everybody gets along with everybody. There are not many disputes.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
It’s open. My best friend is White and a lot of my friends are White, gay, or trans. Hendrix is a really open community.
How would you describe the Black community on campus? How strong is it?
It’s not that strong. You can tell there’s a divide in the Black community because some people only talk to Black people and some only talk to White people and those groups don’t really mix. There are only a few people who are like me and talk to everybody and go to everybody’s events.
How do you like the size of Hendrix in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How was transitioning to a school with [about 1,200] students?
Sometimes I wish it was bigger because I don’t like seeing the same people all the time. But, I feel like if it was bigger, I wouldn’t like it as much because I do like seeing friends in my classes and having a friend in all of my classes.
Do you think people are generally happy with their choice of Hendrix by senior year? Do you think people leave loving Hendrix?
I think people love the experience of being at Hendrix, but I don’t think they love Hendrix as a whole. You get to make a lot of nice connections with people and the academics are good but the experience of being in Conway and the social aspects can be horrible.

Careers

Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
One of my mentors graduated and knew a woman who was a director of a museum, and I had an internship with her over the summer. It was really fun.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful are they?
I used them to finalize my internship and get my Odyssey Credit. Also, Career Term was really helpful for me in terms of figuring out what I want to do after school career-wise.
Have you learned any computer languages or software that will be helpful to you professionally?
No, I haven’t used anything like that.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how easy is the office to work with?
They’re so nice. I have a full-ride through scholarships, and sometimes if one of my scholarships hasn’t posted I’ll get a balance. When that happens, the financial aid director reaches out and says don’t be afraid and explains the whole process. He’s such a nice guy. They’re really easy to work with.