About Grinnell
November 19, 2012 - 12:45pm
As a first-year at Grinnell, one of the things I've come to appreciate the most is the friendly relationship between professors and students. Professors are always accessible to students during office hours and via email, but we also get to know our professors as people. It's not rare to spot a professor at a place like Saint's Rest, the main coffee shop in town. A few weeks ago when I was here on break, I went to Saint's Rest and I saw my advisor, Jon Andelson, and we had a nice chat about... Read More...
November 19, 2012 - 12:37pm
One of the most special things about Grinnell is the professor-student relationships we have the chance to build. The best way to talk about this is to simply recount the relationship I have with my advisor. At Grinnell, every first-year student must take a tutorial; every student chooses his/her tutorial from a list given out over the summer. I chose to take Mapping the City, taught by Gemma Sala. One night over the summer, before I left for Grinnell, I was talking to my dad, who happens to be... Read More...
November 19, 2012 - 12:19pm
When I first decided to do a Mentored Advanced Project (MAP) on the School of the Americas Vigil and social movement, I had no idea that Professor Michael Thompson had written numerous papers on the topic in graduate school. I had never taken a class with Michael Thompson, be it a small seminar of nine people or even one of Grinnell's larger classes of around twenty people. Because he had started teaching at Grinnell only recently, I had never even seen him at a sociology event like the annual... Read More...
November 19, 2012 - 12:14pm
Professor-student relationships at Grinnell are immensely valuable to a student's overall experience of campus life. Many of the students here are away from home for the first time and having a good relationship with a professor on campus can help in adjusting to college life. Interacting with a professor outside of a classroom can be a lot like talking to a parent. One of the reasons I chose my majors, Russian and psychology, was because I love talking to everyone in both departments. Once I... Read More...
November 2, 2012 - 4:19pm
One of the things I love most about Grinnell College is its unique commitment to social and political activism. Iowa's special position as an important swing state places it in the forefront of national politics, making Grinnell College a fascinating place to view the political process. This year's election is the first one I have been able to vote in, and it's really exciting to take part in it in Iowa. There are far more political events here than there would be back home in New York, making... Read More...
November 2, 2012 - 4:18pm
Grinnell students lead busy lives, and discussion panels and lectures are some of the more common ways to reach students and keep them up-to-date about current political issues. Sometimes, though, particular events require a different sort of political engagement. Earlier this year, I had the privilege of being involved in Grinnell's own Million Hoodie March for Trayvon Martin. The march was part of a national awareness campaign that protested the shooting of an unarmed 17-year old teen named... Read More...
November 2, 2012 - 4:13pm
Political activism is an ever-present theme at Grinnell. I appreciate this prominent aspect of campus life since it allows me to stay up-to-date with real world campaigns as well as on campus developments.
Advertisements for political happenings on campus are posted everywhere, so you can't miss who is running for a Student Government Association (SGA) position or what the new student initiative is. And the phrase "student initiative" is key ... students at Grinnell take the initiative to get... Read More...
November 2, 2012 - 4:10pm
How is Grinnell politically active? Well, you don't get much more politically active than the Vice President of the United States. Just a few weeks ago the Vice President, Joe Biden, made a special trip to Grinnell. It was a great opportunity to see a famous American politician and Biden's visit allowed students to feel a part of the political process. Biden discussed issues that are important to college students: financial aid, women's rights, marriage equality, and job opportunities.
However... Read More...
November 2, 2012 - 12:57pm
Grinnell College is known for its commitment to social justice, and its commitment to this work is in the details. Grinnell students are activists, but so are its administrators: people work to make Grinnell a stronger, more respectful community, while conscious of working for social justice in the wider world.
Grinnell students not only practice activism outside of class, but work to combine their passion for social justice with their work in the classroom. The community service office allows... Read More...
October 30, 2012 - 8:22pm
9:30 am Wake up with just enough time to get ready for my Japanese class (I first took Japanese back home in Jamaica. Watching anime (Japanese animation) was one of my favorite pastimes; the allusions made to the culture in anime and the fact that it sounds so cool had initially sparked my interest in the language).
10:00 am Go to Japanese class and be awesome.
11:00 am Go to computer science class and make amazing algorithms that draw horses.
12:00 pm Run over to the dining hall for lunch... Read More...
