The UConn First Year Experience Course

Hello again!  Whitney here.

Chatting with Dr. Zeff from the UConn Health Center

It has been a long and crazy semester since I last wrote here for everyone, but despite all the stress, this semester has been a blast!  One of my favorite things that I did this semester was facilitate a First Year Experience class.  Together with my co-facilitator, Dylan, and our professor in collaboration, Dr. Joesph Crivello, I had the privilege of helping 14 amazing freshman transition into their lives here at UConn.

Some of my students and I at our Meet and Greet

Just as a little refresher, the First Year Experience Program is set up specifically for freshman students in order to help them transition to college life, and provide them the help they may need along the way.  Each FYE class (Yes, we do use lots of acronyms here! Don’t worry you will get used to them all.) has a fun topic such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Chocolate Tasting, or Digital Photography which is taught by a professor.  This part of the class if a great way to relax and have fun, while learning about something that interests you.  It is also an easy way to start to develop a relationship with a professor on campus.  The other part of the class (the better part!), which is taught by sophomore or junior student facilitators helps you get used to the university.  We take a trip to the library to become familiar with all the resources there.  We stop by the cultural centers in the Union, take a ride on the buses to get used to the different lines that run around campus, discuss sophomore year housing as well picking classes for the spring semester and of course take a trip to the Dairy Bar to get some amazing UConn ice cream!

Two of my students got to chat with Charolette, a junior, and learn all about Community Outreach!

Meeting the Dentists from the UConn Health Center

Any First Year Experience Course is a great way to get to know the University and meet new people.  I loved my class last year, and I love teaching even more.  It has been so much fun to watch the classroom dynamic grow and change as all my students have become more comfortable with each other and with UConn in general.  We have had great discussions on everything from the need for empathy in medical practice to which UConn basketball player probably has the best GPA.  All of my students are in the Combined Program in Medicine, so we had a meet and great for them the other day at a Mexican restaurant near campus.  It was awesome to see them interact with the doctors from the medical school and well as all the older students in the program.  It has been a privilege to see all 14 of them transition into college and become a part of the UConn community.  I would highly recommend every incoming freshman to take advantage of this program and also any upper class men student who is interested to look into becoming a facilitator.

Thanks for reading!

-Whitney =)