University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Information Sciences
Minor: Computer Science
Student Self Identifies as: Asian Straight Female
Summary
I’m part of the Asian-American Association and also the Asian-American Intervarsity group, which is a religious association for Asians to get together to go to church and spend time together. I also just signed up to be a volunteer at the 865 Night Market.
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Asian
Sexual Orientation: Straight
High School Experience: Public magnet school in Nashville, Tennessee with a graduating class of about 240 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Information Sciences
Minor: Computer Science
Extracurricular Activities: I’m part of the Asian-American Association and also the Asian-American Intervarsity group, which is a religious association for Asians to get together to go to church and spend time together. I also just signed up to be a volunteer at the 865 Night Market.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
Yeah, they helped me get out more and helped me meet a lot of people within the Asian community and also around campus in general.
Academic Experience
Can you describe the weekly coursework for your major?
It differs a lot for my major because we take a variety of courses. For one of the classes, we have reading reflections where we read articles and reflect on the lessons and connections you can make to the course. I’m in another class that is a Communication Studies course that all Information Sciences majors have to take that is about how media affects our daily lives thought history, and for that we have weekly quizzes. For both classes, we have essays too.
Is there anything you feel either of your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
Information Sciences is a newer major, and the department does a really good job of promoting the new major to new students, which is what happened to me. They do a good job of explaining how the major works, which can be confusing because it’s interdisciplinary and includes Computer Science, Cognitive Thinking, and other things like that.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It differs based on which field you’re in and I’ve experienced that since I changed majors. If you’re in the engineering field it’s more competitive because more students fail the “weed-out” classes. Other than that, it is collaborative.
How accessible are your professors?
Most of the professors I’ve had will respond to an email within 24 hours, sometimes even faster. The professor who is slowest to get back to me is the head of the Information Sciences department so she has a lot of meetings on her schedule.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I initially started out as a Computer Science major, but after I failed the second course, I figured that I didn’t want to sit at a computer all day coding whatever my professors tell me to do. I thought about changing majors and Information Sciences was advertising in the library and talking about their courses, and I ended up switching because they described it as computer science but with more social science aspects.
What has been your favorite part of studying at the University of Tennessee?
My freshman year, I would go study in Hodge’s library with all of my friends and when we took breaks from studying, we’d all talk. I really like the communal aspect of studying.
Reasons to Attend
1) It’s big, so if you don’t like a person, you can just avoid them. Also, you get to meet a lot of different people here.
2) There is an international population here and an International House where you can meet them. [About 1% of students are international.]
3) There are a lot of majors possible if you don’t know what you want to study.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) There are a lot of people from small towns in Tennessee that are very close-minded and sometimes use racial slurs. [See UT Daily Beacon article, “The Outsider’s Report: Looking back on recent campus events,” article, “Interim chancellor names action items to move past recent incidents, address underlying issues,” and article, “Raising voices: Students criticize Interim Chancellor Davis, cabinet in wake of hate speech on campus.”]
2) It’s in a really small town, so if you want to do something extravagant, you need a car.
3) If you don’t like nature, it’s a really nature-based place.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Hess Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: Laurel Hall with one roommate
How was transitioning from your hometown of Nashville to Knoxville, TN in terms of location?
I’m from Nashville, so it’s was a big change for me since Knoxville is much smaller than Nashville. Transitioning from a big city to a small city was the biggest change for me.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
The neighborhood around UT is not somewhere you want to be at night, especially if you’re female and alone. That’s why UT has T Link, which will drop you off where you need to go. Because of that system, I feel much safer than I would just walking back. [Both the violent crime and property crime rates in Knoxville is just over double the national median. See UT Daily Beacon article, “Community addresses Knoxville gang problem.”]
Social Opportunities
What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you participate in at Tennessee?
I think that changed as I went from freshman to sophomore year. Freshman year I went out and partied, but now I just chill in my room or go out with friends because partying is not really for me anymore. Freshman year, I would go to the Asian groups’ parties off-campus and then some just random off-campus parties. Now, with my friends, we like to go out and explore new restaurants and the hiking trails around Knoxville. There’s also Gatlinburg, so whenever we have a three-day weekend or something we go skiing and snowboarding.
What is the impact of Greek life on the weekend options at the University of Tennessee?
They throw a lot of parties and you see a lot of people in Greek life walking around where there are off-campus parties. It’s easier to get into parties if you’re in Greek life because they know a lot of people who are hosting events and are invited more to other Greek events.
How happy are you with the weekend options at Tennessee? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I just wish there were more restaurants to go to because now I’m starting to eat at the same places around Knoxville.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
One of them I went to high school with and he introduced me to someone that lived on my hall and I got really close with both of them. I also got really close with some people in the Asian community as well.
How would you describe the overall social scene?
It’s really easy to make friends if you put yourself out there with people because it’s going to be new people coming here too. It’s really social here.
To what extent do you feel people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I think it’s really divided here. I’ve had some racially charged incidents happen with other students with me and my Asian friends. [See UT Daily Beacon article, “The Outsider’s Report: Looking back on recent campus events,” article, “Interim chancellor names action items to move past recent incidents, address underlying issues,” and article, “Raising voices: Students criticize Interim Chancellor Davis, cabinet in wake of hate speech on campus.”]
How would you describe the Asian community on campus? How strong is it?
It’s really strong. It’s a close-bonded group. It also can be cliquey in that if you’re not there from the start, it can be hard to get in even if you’re Asian. Like, if you were a transfer it would be difficult to get in.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
Greek life does mix with some people. Some of my friends are in Greek life and when her sorority hosts parties I went to some of them. There are business fraternities and academic fraternities, which I have a lot of friends in, so I think they mix well as long as you are friends with people within those organizations.
How do you like the size of the University of Tennessee in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has it impacted your experience? [There are about 23,300 undergraduate students at the University of Tennessee.]
It’s good for me personally because if I don’t like a person, I never have to see them again because it’s so big, which, for me, is relieving.
Careers
Have you learned any computer programs or languages that will be helpful to you professionally?
I had to use Excel in a physics class, I’m learning JMP, which is a statistics program, and I’ve learned how to program in C++. If you want a head start in computer science, you need to learn C++.