Class of 2018 Stats

Of the 438 members of the entering class:

• 25 percent are U.S. students of color.
• 68 percent participated in community service.
• 69 percent graduated in the top 10 percent of their secondary school class.
• 63 percent graduated from public high school.
• 44 percent were varsity athletes.
• 54 percent participated in the fine arts (music, theater, dance, visual art).
• 15 percent are first-generation college students.
• 21 percent participated in student government.
• 18 percent worked on high school publications.
• 18 percent were active in speech, debate or forensics.

Eighteen percent of the incoming class are international students representing 27 countries. The gallery of flags above Spencer Grill will be expanded to include flags from Albania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uzbekistan.

First Two Days of Classes!

We started class on Thursday!  I am currently in Failure (My tutorial), Biology – 150 Microbial Pathogenesis, Calculus II, and Intermediate German I.  I may switch into Calculus I, but I figure I’ll give Calculus II a chance first!  So Thursday I had Failure and Biology.  I started off the day discussing with my tutorial class of 13 the concept of failure, what it means to us, to society, is it final, is it a process, all in all it was fascinating.  We discussed for maybe 40 minutes and then watched a TED talk about failure and continued discussing for another 15-20 minutes.  It was a wonderful way to start of a morning!  Next I went to Biology.  This class period runs from 1:15-4:05 every Tuesday and Thursday, this time allows us to also work in the lab and do extended lap projects without having to worry about the time.  I am really excited for this class even though I know it is going to be hard.  As with all of my classes, we started off discussing the syllabus but then we were introduced to our lab!  Our lab is run at a level 2 safety level, which means any papers, pens, pencils, or notebooks that we take in, are not allowed to come out with us.  This is because we are working with some pathogens that might cause human sickness and it is a liability for the college to have people bringing things in and out of the lab.  Anyways, we got to go into the lab and practicing growing bacteria on a plate, we will learn Tuesday who won the “Grow the best bacteria colonies” competition! J My classes on Friday were Calculus II and Intermediate German I.  The professor who teaches my calculus class is wonderful, however I’m not sure if I can remember enough of my high school calculus to do well in the class.  I will be going to the Math Lab tonight and talking with my professor tomorrow!  My German class was fantastic!  With only 5 of the 15 students being first years, it is a great dynamic with all of the variety of ages.  For most of the class our Professor asked us to have a conversation with the person next to us about our summer.  He then went around the room and asked us a quick question about our summer.  It was probably the most consecutive German I have ever spoken!  Most of the class was taught in German and I was happy to realize I could understand most of it!  I am really excited for this semester, I think I have a good set of classes, with a great set of professors!  Let’s get this learning started!

However, I have spent a small fortune on books....... 

Auf Wiedersehen!!!

The Medallion Ceremony

It was such a great experience to participate in this ceremony.  There were several speakers, most of which were alumni from several different decades.  The history of this event is rooted deep in Grinnell history and lore.  So here is the story we were told:

The Iowa Band, a group of abolitionist ministers wanted to form an “ideal community” where students could learn and live together.  As they were deciding where to go and how to fund the college a man named James J. Hill came into the picture. James Hill was a self-made man who could not afford more than 9 years of education.  When he heard about the Iowa Band’s goals and dreams he sought them out and lay before them a sliver dollar.  He said that this would be the start of an endowment for the college.  He told the Iowa Band to nurture and grow this dollar so others who could not afford a higher education could still have an opportunity to attend a great institution.

 

Every student gets a medallion to represent this silver dollar and the possibilities that Grinnell offers its students.  Every medallion has the graduation year of the incoming class.

 

 

Also, first day of classes were today!  After I attend the rest of my classes tomorrow I will post about each one!

Last Day of NSO!

Today was the last day of NSO!  Before I go into what we did today, I’ll pick you up where I left off last time. 

Sunday:

I started my day off with a walk around a local lake with GORP, the outdoors program.  It was beautiful although VERY warm!  I talked to a girl from the Czech Republic for most of the hike.  Next came our first tutorial class!  It was mostly filled with registration information and a few ice breaker activities.  My tutorial is on Failure taught be Professor Brad Graham.  He is very nice and I think it will be a really good class!  We had our next Community Values Session on Diversity in the evening.  This was my favorite as they had about 8 speakers from very diverse background and experiences talk about how they view themselves as a part of a diverse community.  I just lazed around in my room that evening, listening to music and talking to my mom J

Monday:

Tai Chi!  I spent an hour taking a Tai Chi class in the morning.  It was really fun and I hope I am able to do more!  Monday was filled with many many seminars.  The first was on strategies for success in your first intro to science and math course.  It provided advice that basically consisted of: do your homework, get sleep, and talk to your professors.  The next session was on the Careers, Life, and Service Center.  I already knew quite a bit about what they do, but it was nice to meet some of the people that work there.  Finally, there was the Community Service session.  It was interesting to hear about all the interesting opportunities Grinnell provides!  In fact, the NSO community service project was moved due to weather to Saturday.  We will be volunteering at the local animal shelter as well as a farm!  Also, I may get a volunteer work study program helping a museum in Des Moines do some research, right from my dorm room!  Our second to last community values session was very important and was on Sexual Health and Violence Prevention.  After, I spent some time in my room just relaxing again.

Also Monday was our Advising appointments.  We met with our advisor (who teaches our tutorial) to figure out what classes we wanted to register for.

 

Tuesday:

There was an Academic Resource Fair and a Reading Diagnostic test.  I was very confused by this test, as some words that I knew that did not have the correct definition.  For instance: the word induce was a vocabulary word.  The definition of “to start, or to cause to start” was not an option….I was very confused….ANYWAYS.  My roommate and I wandered around Faulkner Gallery where a photography exhibit is going on.  It was really beautiful!  Finally our last Community Values session, living in Grinnell, brought to you by some community members.  That evening, my roommate and I wandered around Downtown Grinnell and then I toured the Observatory!  If you ever get the chance to do so, take it, it is so interesting and the professor is really fascinating to listen to! 

And finally today! I woke up this morning a little early just to do Salsa dancing for an hour and a half!  It was lots of fun and I met lots of other people who have absolutely no dancing ability. J We then had a Medallion Ceremony which the roots of are based in Grinnell lore.  Of which I will post about tomorrow because it is getting late and class starts tomorrow! Then we had a convocation where four students presented their summer research projects in conjunction with professors. Next we had “Grinnell Fest”, basically an organization fair, that was a bit overwhelming but really fun.  Although, I went into the day thinking I was going to sign up for the student run ceramics studio, only to have the ceramics students leave right before I got there!  However, someone in my dorm did get to sign up and is going to let me know if she hears anything from them.  For the best part of the day, Grinnell put on a lovely picnic for all students including, you guessed it, Iowa corn!  It really was the best corn I’ve ever had.   Then my roommate and I went to see 21 Jump Street in Harris Cinema thanks to the college.

 

This week has in no way been easy.  I’m not going to lie and say that everything was bows and giggles because it wasn’t.  It is hard being away from home and family.  It is hard not knowing anyone.  It is hard missing friends back home.  But my SA (Student Advisor, kind of like an RA with no disciplinary role) that the first two months feel like you are in a hamster wheel.  You are working hard but don’t seem to go anywhere, and then suddenly you go to dinner without texting a friend or looking around for where to sit, it becomes comfortable.  I know this must be true or no one would ever make it through four years of college!  So it’s nice to know that the loneliness that everyone is feeling is normal!

First Days at Grinnell!!

Hello!  My name is Katie, I am a first year student at Grinnell College in Iowa.  As I went about the college application process my senior year, I found that information about first year experiences was not as readily available as I had hoped (at any school, not just Grinnell).  So what I decided to do, for my friends, family, and other prospective students looking at Grinnell, was to start a blog in the hopes that it provides interesting and fun information about Grinnell and also will help with the decision on where to attend college!  That being said, I am posting this at the end of the first full day of New Student Orientation (NSO).  I live in Rose Hall and I will post pictures at some point of my room and dorm!

A little about myself: I am from Boise, Idaho.  I am a runner but due to an injury I am not running cross country this year for Grinnell, but I did run for my high school.  I love pretty much every subject!  I took 3 years of Ceramics, 3 ½ years of science, 4 years of math and English, and 2 years of German.  As of right now I would like to attend medical school to become a practicing physician of some sort, but I do not know what I want to major in!

Anyways here is a brief overview of my first day and a half at Grinnell!

 

When I arrived on campus, my mom and I went to do lots of paperwork stuff, I got my Pioneer – One card (p-card) that is used at the dining hall, bookstore, to get into all the buildings etc., we turned in the last of my financial paperwork, and checked in with the Health Center to make sure I had everything in order. After all the not so fun stuff was over, I got to move into my room!  My roommate was already on Campus for a pre-orientation program so she helped me move in!  Again, I live in Rose Hall on the first floor so at least I didn’t have to haul my stuff up to the third floor.  East campus are the only dorms in air conditioning which is quite lovely right now as the humidity here is anywhere between 70%-100%.  My first night was rough, I didn’t sleep hardly at all but hopefully it will get better!  Today we had breakfast with our Tutorial professor.  My tutorial is on Failure and I’m really excited for it!  Then we had a class photo (all 438 of us stuffed onto one side of the gymnasium……it was not good.  As well as a welcome ceremony from many members of the Grinnell staff and students.  I had lunch with my families and then I had to say good bye to my mom and dad L After, they kept us super busy.  We had floor/dorm meetings and Community Values sessions on Harm Reduction and Self Governance (both interesting but I won’t bore you with the details!). Tonight we could attend a “Pub Night” to learn more about Harm Reduction and alcohol or a grocery bingo!  I went to Bingo with my roommate and a few other girls, I won an underbed shoe organizer which was really neat! 

 

So that was pretty much my day, I will try to post again near the end of NSO with more information about Grinnell! J