Fingers, Chocolates, and Home

Vol 3 No 17

In our ongoing series of student voices, this week's blog is brought to us from a current Honors Studies Student. This blog has a special aspect, as well. The author wrote this as a blog for The Finger Literary Magazine, which is published by FLCC students as part of a class - taught by Erin Brewer this semester. You can see the blog - as well as learn more about the magazine - if you head over here. You will see why we wanted to share it here, too, once you have a chance to read it.  So, sit back and enjoy the reflections of Lindsey Noble ('19), Liberal Arts and Sciences: Creative Writing student.

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Welcome back to my Box of Chocolates!

Today I’d like to discuss the Finger Lakes Community College Honor’s House. Not many people seem to know this part of the college exists and I personally believe that is a crying shame! This place has become something of a second home to me. If I could I would take every single class there. I have created many memories at the Honor’s House and this past week has been quite exciting there for me.

This semester I am taking three classes at the Honor’s House. I am taking American Literature 1865-Present, Literary Magazine Publishing and Harry’s Heroes.

Now the first two probably do not need much explaining, but for contexts sake I’ll let you know what Harry’s Heroes is about. Harry’s Heroes is an Honors class that focuses on young adult novels such as Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, The Hobbit, A Wrinkle in time etc. For someone who loves young adult novels and plans on becoming an author one day this class is beyond exciting and thoroughly though-provoking. If they ever offer it again – and I pray they do – I highly suggest taking it if you are an FLCC student.

However, I digress. The Honor’s House is a wonderful place. It offers classes that will challenge those of you who would like to be challenged. It is a place of acceptance and growth. Coming from someone with a variety of raging anxiety and panic disorders I hope you will believe me when I say, I have never felt more accepted and confident anywhere else.

This building offers staff who are passionate about what they do and teach. They genuinely want the students to thrive. The Professors encourage free thought and exploration. They are open to all opinions and questions. The feedback they give you is thoughtful, genuine, and is meant to help you grow and believe me you will grow.

Everyday I walk into that building excited for new adventures and experiences. I walk in content in the knowledge that no one will judge me there. I enter knowing that this is the place for the passionate, that this is the home for those that will never be quenched of their thirst for knowledge, for those of us who desire growth. I find great pride in these facts as well as vast comfort in the community of the Honor’s House.

As for my week at the Honor’s House…

I’ve had the great honor of joining a literary community, in helping this community grow and thrive through my work in Literary Magazine Publishing. In this class I’ve had the chance to be a part of a real team and it has been one of the coolest experiences ever thus far.

In American Literature 1865-Present I had the chance to debate with the class over the effectiveness of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman as a piece of psychological realism. I was confident in my opinion, my class heard and understood me. They encouraged my view points while simultaneously challenging them. Every minute of that class I had my perceptions of stories and what it means to write in the realistic mode shattered over and over and over again, until they were inevitably rebuilt on sounder knowledge and stronger convictions.

In Harry’s Heroes I was able to hear the opinions of my classmates as I discussed what I would like to do for my final project. I was granted the feeling of acceptance and warmth at watching their faces light up with interest and excitement at my idea. The idea being to compare and contrast the archetypes of each of the Harry Potter novels and watch how they evolve.

So yeah it was a pretty great week for me. However, it is always a pretty great week at the Honor’s House!

Welcome Words

Vol 3 No 15

These blurbs are not specifically words of welcome, but I think they do an amazing job of characterizing Honors to those who might not know precisely what it is.  Both Rob and Sam took Games and Storytelling in the Fall 2018 semester with April Broughton.  I thought that their voices would be a great way to start off the new semester.  To those familiar with Honors, this should sound like home.  For those new to it, this should help you to better understand what you are about to experience.  Welcome to Spring 2019.

Rob Barnhart

Honors, in its self sounds like you need a great GPA to have access to this “prestigious” resource. In fact, I am positive that this program title has steered some away. I can at least speak for myself. I fumbled into Honors. I was about a week into the semester when I had decided that one of the original classes I had scheduled just wasn’t for me. I sat down with my advisor and looked over all the classes that I was eligible. I was limited to choices that would fulfil my degree audit. I noticed that I was overlooking the “HON” option almost every time. This was because I felt that my grades were probably not up to par with the class requirements. Thankfully, I was wrong. I had the courage to ask about Honors, knowing that it was worth a shot. Nothing else was seeming to fit into my busy and personal time restraints. I asked my advisor if an Honors class would work for what I am “bringing to the table”. Little did I know that all I needed to have accomplished to get into the specific class “Gaming and Storytelling” was English 101, which many students end up taking their first semester and overall need to accomplish anyway. Luckily, I was accepted late into the class. I had no clue that this last minute, on a whim decision would be the best one so far in my college experience.

Honors brought me out of my funk. I had been pretty beaten down by some events that took place during the 2018 school year, most notably the death of my father. The kindness of the classroom felt warm and academically stimulating. This class was held at the honors house. Which is a quaint, intimate building adjacent from the FLCC main campus. This house is not just for student who retain a high-end GPA, but rather a home for all students who are looking to succeed creative, “out of the box” ways. My time at the honors house was awesome, and I mean that in a 1950’ dialog. My experience was extraordinary from an everyday classroom structure. I could have almost called my classmates family. A scholarly bond of intelligent, creative minds—meeting for the benefit of all participants, including the instructor. Some of the best peers I have interacted with have come from this Honors experience, which I am pleased that I stumbled into this blessing. Showing up and remaining attentive during each class was a breeze. These class I took at the honors house, “gaming and storytelling” was a force in my life that demanded critical thinking on my end. I am so grateful that FLCC has an Honors curriculum. I started off the semester being unsure that I would have enough grit to complete the class and work assignments with excellence. My instructor gave me the tools to care to believe in myself. This ended up carrying over into my every day self-esteem. I am so happy that my original schedule fell though, Honors was one of the best courses I have ever taken. I do feel the name “Honors” may scare off those with lower academic standing, which is a fallacy. I would recommend it to all students that taking an honors course is not only mind-expanding but also a commodity to the college experience.

Sam "Hollywood" Brown

My experience with the Honors program was probably the best in my time at FLCC. The class that I took was Games and Storytelling, hosted by the lovely April Broughton. This class was unique, not just in topic, but in atmosphere as well. The class was very welcoming and had a very chill vibe for the whole time that we were in class. It was also a very pleasant change from lecture based learning. Although the category may say lecture, it is more of an extended conversation between everyone in the class. I made some great memories as well, having free reign to be creative in whatever we are doing was something that I hadn’t really experienced in other classes (Seeing as the majority of classes that I had taken in the past were more lecture based and more strict to guidelines.) I looked forward to my Honors class every week, and every week I was not disappointed. Overall I recommend any Honors class. 10/10 would take again.

Flying the Honors Flag

Vol 1. No 2.

Hello again from the Director of Honors!

This week I'm going to talk about how you can have yourself flagged as an Honors Student and why you might want to do that.  You'll also find some important information about where to find me and when you are most likely to find me in my office if you have questions.

It is true that our classes are open to all students and that a single Honors course on your transcript can be enough to set you apart from another applicant to a job or a seat in a four-year classroom.  But what if you have the time and the room to dedicate yourself to going all the way, so to speak?  What if you have set your sights on a certificate or diploma and what to make it official?  Well, you can and it's very easy to do.

All you have to do is fill out a change of major form (which you can find here) with your name, ID and signature.  Then you get it to me and I sign it for you.  From there, it goes down to the OneStop where they will raise a little flag in your student record that tags you as an Honors student.  It's that easy!

What this does for you is put my name down as your secondary adviser to help you make decisions about how to best proceed along an Honors path.   I will never replace the adviser in your degree program because they have invaluable knowledge and expertise when it comes to your educational and career goals in your field.  I will simply be a resource for you to talk about all things Honors.  I can help you compare your required classes with the next semester's offerings and help pave the way for you to complete one or two contracts depending on which route you go.  In short, if it's possible for you to earn an Honors certificate or diploma as part of your degree, the two of us will figure it out and then make sure that we've made good choices with your main adviser as well.

If you are flagged as Honors or not, if you've taken an Honors class or haven't, and no matter where you are on your educational journey, you are always welcome to come find me to chat about Honors related issues.  You can find my office on the fourth floor just down the hall to the right of the drinking fountain.  I'm the last door on the left before you go around the corner into the business and art wing.  My office number is 4285.  This semester, Fall 2016, my office hours are as follows:

Monday / Wednesday:  10:00-10:45 and 1:00-2:00
Tuesday / Thursday:  9:00 - 9:30 and 11:00-12:00
Friday:  10:00-11:00

I'm often around at other times, as well, so you can always email me to set up an appointment at trista.merrill@flcc.edu or honorsstudies@flcc.edu

You may wonder why my office is not in the Honors House, since that seems to make the most sense given that is HONORS Studies and HONORS House.  They are actually two separate things, though the two of them often cross paths in both philosophy and practical matters such as where we schedule Honors classes.  I had the chance to move my office over there, but I decided that it would be much easier to reach out to a wider range of students, faculty, and other important folks at FLCC if I was in the main building.  So, like you who are taking Honors classes, I walk over there every day and so far - the walk has been lovely!  We shall see how we feel when the snow starts falling, eh?

Well, that's all I have for this week.  Next week is a big week - I'm hoping to bring you news of our upcoming Honors gathering.  Stay tuned!

-T

Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit - e.e.cummings

Honors Matters!

Vol 1. No. 1
6 September 2016


Hello and welcome to the first FLCC Honors Studies blog!

Finger Lakes Community College is now in its second week of classes for the Fall 2016 semester and there are so many exciting things happening in Honors.  We have eleven Honors in the Disciplines courses running, with a total of 160 students enrolled in these classes. There's another handful of students engaged in Honors contracts and we are already making plans for the spring.

We are working on a number of things this semester sort of 'behind the scenes' as well, to help ensure that the Honors experience is as fulfilling as possible for all students who partake of Honors classes. It will also help us to show those outside Honors just what kind of work we are doing and the impact that work is having.  In a future blog, I'll tell you more about this.

As Director, I'm also making sure I stay up to date on what Honors means both regionally and nationally.  This October, I'll be heading to the National Collegiate Honors Council conference in Seattle to meet with Honors Administrators, Directors, Deans, Faculty, and even students to see what other colleges do in terms of Honors.  I expect to learn a lot again this time; in fact, this blog is actually one idea that was born out of the same conference last year.  Dr. Linda Ross, psychology faculty and a member of the Honors Advisory Board will be going with me so we have two sets of eyes and ears to take in everything we can.  A couple of weeks before that conference, I will be attending a SUNY Honors Directors and Deans meeting at SUNY Oswego to find out what our brother and sister campuses are doing and to talk with them about what we can be doing on our own campus to make the most of Honors for those who transfer to a SUNY Four Year.  Keep an eye out for blogs about both of these events!

In the next few weeks, we will be planning a party for Honors students and faculty to get together, share stories and experiences, have a meal, and generally get to know each other and Honors even more than we already do.  And who knows, perhaps there will be some sneak peaks at our Spring 2017 offerings, as well!

That, in a nutshell, is what Honors has been up to of late.  There are some other things I will be telling you about as soon as we have some more information, but in the meantime, please remember that my door is open and my inbox has lots of room in it.  I welcome any ideas you have for Honors, blog topics, guest blogs or bloggers, requests for information, questions about Honors, and any sort of general comment about anything related to Honors.

I will leave you with some helpful links and contact information for important things related to Honors Studies.

FLCC Honors Studies Facebook:  Head over and give us a Like!
FLCC Honors House Facebook:  The House and Honors Studies are not the same thing!

Honors email:  trista.merrill@flcc.edu or honorsstudies@flcc.edu

Thank you for reading and remember........stay curious.

-T

"I have no special talents.  I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein