Tag Archives: McDaniel Plan

Choosing an FYS

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By now, if you’re a high school senior who has committed to attending McDaniel this fall, you’re in the middle of taking a number of steps to ready you for coming to McDaniel in August. One the most important of those steps is choosing your First Year Seminar class, more commonly known as an FYS.

The FYS classes are fun classes with a variety of themes in a number of disciplines. Because they’re designed for first-year students, they’re not too difficult, and your instructor and a McDaniel student called a peer mentor who is assigned to your class will help you transition to college life and work.

Students who are coming to the College in the fall should rank at least five FYS choices so they can be matched with one of their choice. When I chose my FYS two years, I had a hard time picking, because so many of the courses sounded interesting and fun! Here are some tips for ranking your FYS picks:

Choose what sounds interesting to YOU. Seriously, this is the most important piece of advice I can offer you when it comes to choosing an FYS. Don’t choose an FYS based on what your parents think is cool or relevant. You’re in college now, and your FYS can be your decision. Also, don’t choose an FYS because someone you met on Facebook that he or she is or isn’t choosing it. The only person who matters in this process is you, and there’s bound to be something you like.

Don’t be afraid to choose an FYS outside of your discipline. McDaniel College is a liberal arts college, which means that you have the freedom to explore a variety of subjects. If you have your heart set on one major, but you like an FYS that sounds completely unrelated to that, don’t be afraid to choose that FYS anyway. (With a few exceptions, FYS classes don’t count toward majors anyway.) Your FYS can be a chance to explore a topic that you may never get a chance to explore again. It can also be a great way to discover a new passion!

Choose carefully. This year, students have the option to rank all of the FYS classes on a 1 to 9 scale based on their levels of interest in each course. Take advantage of the flexibility this gives you. Not only can you show which courses you are really interested in, but you can also tell the system which courses you absolutely want nothing to do with. However, I tell you to choose carefully because once you’re assigned an FYS, you can’t pick a different one. (Otherwise, lots of people would change their assignments and chaos would ensue!) So remember, pick classes that you genuinely really like!

You have until June 5 to submit your selections, and looking at the form, you have a lot of really cool choices this year. To find the FYS form and other first-year to-dos, go here. (If you’re not an incoming first-year student and you’d like to see the FYS courses, go here and select FYS in the “Prefix” dropdown. Not all FYS courses are offered every year.) Best of luck getting into your perfect FYS.

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Native American Art

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This semester I am taking my first ever art class to fulfill one of my McDaniel Plan requirements.

I did such a great job avoiding them, as art isn’t exactly my forte, for three and a half years. For my creative expression requirement, while other people were taking ceramics, drawing, or jewelry making, I took a creative writing class.

However, I have my first class in Peterson, our “clean arts” building on campus. I am taking Native American art, in order to become a well-rounded student. Although this is not a class I am taking out of extreme interest, it fit in my schedule and I am taking it with one of my roommates so it shouldn’t be too bad.

The best contrast in classes like this one are the combination of students and their interests. My classmates are divided into one of two groups: those are here for an art related major or minor, and those who are here to graduate.

I am learning a lot just from the art students in my class, and I am quite impressed with their knowledge and the information that they know. As I sit staring at the art, just enjoying the lines and colors, my fellow classmates know what certain symbols mean and what it says about the culture.

I am looking forward to seeing where I stand on Native American art upon completing this course.

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Embracing the Liberal Arts

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I’ve been thinking a lot about liberal arts lately. I’ve been thinking back to my Great Works I experience; the section of Great Works that I took last fall as part of the Honors Program sequence focused a lot on liberal arts and liberal arts colleges. And last night, my sister, a freshman in high school, was required to read a newspaper article about the liberal arts and colleges, which also got me thinking.

While I was on my college search, I seemed to be more under the impression that a liberal arts college was a small college with a small student body. I’ve since learned that while many small colleges are in fact liberal arts colleges, many are not. In fact, some larger universities are also liberal arts schools.

So what is a liberal arts education? I learned throughout my first semester at McDaniel that in a general and modern sense, being liberally educated means that you’ve been educated in a variety of academic disciplines, throughout the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, in order to advance your personal and intellectual development. (And in case you weren’t sure, the liberal arts has nothing to do with being liberal or conservative.)

Is McDaniel a liberal arts college? Absolutely! During your time at McDaniel, you’ll be expected to take courses in a variety of disciplines, and the requirements set forth by the McDaniel Plan will be your guide!

As an English major, I wasn’t initially too keen on taking classes that strayed too far from my major, like math and science. However, I’m starting to realize that my exposure to all of these disciplines has made me a deeper, more analytical and creative thinker, which has in turn made me a better and more confident student and individual. Instead of shying away from the liberal arts, I now embrace it! And even though I want to take as many cool English classes as possible during my time at McDaniel (and I still have to take enough to complete my major), I’ve become much more open to taking classes outside of my major, which is why I’ll be taking Logic and an Honors class about number theory in the spring in order to expand my horizons and my mind.

So when it comes to searching for and choosing a college, my advice is this: your academics an important part of your college experience. When researching them, don’t just zero in on your major. Take a look at the bigger picture by looking at the entire curriculum of whatever school you’re looking at. A good curriculum is a foundation for a good education, and it’s up to you to decide what sort of curriculum is best for you.

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Registering for classes

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It’s that time of the semester! Registration is upon us. It’s a time of excitement and a time of nerves–people tend to get excited about the semester to come but it’s also a little nerve-racking for those afraid that they won’t get into the classes they want. I registered last night without a hitch, and registration seems to have gone smoothly for most of the people I’ve talked to.

Registration can be overwhelming for many, no matter what college they go to. However, I have a few helpful hints to share that should make your registration process as painless as possible when it’s your time to register.

1. Know what requirements you need to fulfill. Here at McDaniel, we have a general education curriculum known as the McDaniel Plan. This plan consists of several different categories that can be fulfilled by various classes, and its goal is to make you a well-rounded student. You’ll also have to complete certain requirements for your majors and minors (and the Honors Program if you’re in it). Luckily, our registration software has a program that can help you keep track of what requirements you’ve completed and which ones you still need to tackle. I’ve tried to strike a balance in what I take between classes for my major and minor and classes for the McDaniel Plan every semester. I think it’s important to chip away at the McDaniel Plan right away so that I can focus on my major classes in my later semesters of college, but I’ll continue to tackle the McDaniel Plan throughout my semesters here because I like to take at least one course outside of my major a semester to maintain that balance.

2. Plan ahead. This has a lot to do with knowing what you need to take. If you don’t decide what classes you’re going to take before registration opens (you have to wait until an assigned time before registration), chances are, you won’t get much of what you want or need because your classes will fill up. Luckily, advising helps this process quite a lot. Leading up to registration, students at McDaniel meet with their advisers to discuss what classes to take next semester. It’s really helpful if you’re not entirely sure what you want to take, but don’t go into the advising process without a plan either. Advising goes a lot more smoothly if you have some idea of what to take rather than no idea at all. Curious about McDaniel’s courses and requirements? Visit the course catalog!

3. Be open-minded. This one too goes along with knowing what requirements you need to fulfill. Because registration time slots are assigned based on seniority and the number of credits students have, people who are still toward the beginning of their college careers here at McDaniel don’t always get all of their first-choice classes. But fear not if you’re a freshman and you don’t get that class for your major! You still have the McDaniel Plan to complete and you’ll always be able to find classes that fulfill its requirements. While you may not get into your first choice class as a freshman, be open-minded and look for something else. You might end up taking something you never thought you’d take–and like it!

4. Know how the registration software works. Our registration system, known as the Archway is very useful but it isn’t always the most intuitive thing. Before registering for the first (and even second and third) time, it’s important to know to the registration program works so you can use it when it’s time for you to register. You can preselect your courses ahead of time and register for them once registration opens. Once you enroll at McDaniel, this process and other helpful registration hints will be sent to you in the form of online tutorials, so if you watch those, you shouldn’t have a lot of trouble figuring registration out. (And if you do have trouble, tell someone! People at McDaniel are very knowledgeable about the Archway and are willing to help you out!)

5. Register on time! Once registration opens up, it’s like releasing a bunch of horses to see which ones are the fastest when it comes to getting some classes. If you don’t register on time, you may not get all of your choices. Make it a part of your process of planning ahead by finding out when you are scheduled to register and planning your schedule so you’re not busy during your registration time.

Bottom line, if you’re proactive about registration, it’s not that difficult. The time you take to plan ahead for registration isn’t just about registration night; it’s about the entire semester to come and really, your future. (On a related note, it’s also important to recognize that in a small college such as McDaniel, some classes are not offered every year, so you’ll need to plan for this too.)

But don’t fret it you don’t get to take that really important class the first time around. As you get older, registration gets easier. I promise. And in the meantime, McDaniel has plenty of cool and interesting classes for everyone to take, so expand your horizons and take something unexpected! Who knows? You might just find your new passion…

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Badminton

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I had my last badminton class just a few minutes ago. For the past month, I’ve been taking badminton three mornings a week as part of my Physical Activity and Wellness Requirement for the McDaniel Plan, our guidelines for types of required courses for all students here at McDaniel. The most common way to fulfill this Physical Activity requirement is to take four .5 credit phys. ed. classes throughout their time at McDaniel. (Students can also fulfill the requirement by participating in intercollegiate sports.) Each of these classes lasts for a month, so you’ll only have to go to the class no more than 15 times.

At first, I was nervous about taking badminton in college. I was apprehensive about losing an hour right in the middle of my mornings three days a week that could otherwise be spent doing homework (or sleeping). I was also afraid that the grading system would be harsh and that I wouldn’t do well as a result.

However, though I did indeed have to devote three hours a week to badminton, the class was not hard or harsh at all. Coach Hoyt, the instructor and head coach of our football team, grades very fairly; in fact, most of my grade will come just from showing up and wearing clothes appropriate for exercising.

What I liked about the class was that we didn’t just derp around with birdies and racquets. We actually learned the skills, shots, and rules needed to play real games of badminton, and we all played several 10-minute games during each class meeting.

I was terrible at serving the birdie at first, and I could never serve underhand (the correct way) in high school, but Coach Hoyt helped me one-on-one during the first couple of days of class to fix that. I ended up becoming so good at serving that I could do it well with my left hand in addition to my right (a skill I discovered when a substitute teacher told us to play with our opposite hands for the last five minutes of one of our class meetings). And though I wasn’t always good at game play, I still had a lot of fun.

Another neat thing about class was that I got to know a few people in my English classes and in my major a lot better, which is awesome because I have new people on campus that I like and people who I can turn to if I ever need clarification on an assignment or have to do a group project. Based on this experience, I would recommend avoiding taking gym classes with existing friends, unless you’re really interested in that particular sport.

I really grew to like and be reasonably good at badminton, and I’m going to miss it (though I’ll be happy to get those extra hours back in my week, especially since there’s only a little over a month left in the semester and that’s when things start to get really busy). Luckily, there’s a badminton club on campus that meets one night a week. This semester, they meet the night I have class, but next semester, I think I’ll be sure to make time in my evening to join them!

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