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!

Food, Fun, and Fellowship

Vol 3 No 8

You're invited!

What:  Dinner!

Who:  All students, particularly Honors Students

When:  Tuesday, October 30 from 5:00 - 7:00

Where:  Stage 14

On one hand, there are always jokes (or not jokes) made about how if you serve food, students will come.  Students LOVE free food.  Well, here's a secret:  that's also true for faculty and staff.  And honestly, it's an appealing prospect for students - I remember being a student and anytime I could save money, I was all for it.

That aside, however, the bi-annual Honors Studies dinner is so much more than 'just' free food.  It's also free T-shirts and free giveaways.

No, wait...

I meant, it is, but it's also something more than even that...

We open the evening with a few remarks from faculty and staff of the college who support Honors.  After that, we hand the microphone over to students and spend the evening sharing thoughts, questions, and stories about Honors.  Students talk about how they found Honors, why they love Honors, what they've gained from Honors, and what they are looking forward to as they continue their Honors experience.

It's about fellowship and taking a break from the countless calls on your time and energy at this point in the semester.  It's a time for sharing laughter and food and perhaps a tear or two.  Maybe a hug.  You can talk or you can just listen.  But, at its simplest, it's a time to just hang out and relax.

Come join us.

Honors Voices

Vol.1 No. 6

This week, while I’m in Seattle and not quite ready to tell you all about what I’m learning here, I thought it might be fun to hear some other voices. So, this blog is going to introduce you to some of the faces behind Honors. The following burbs are from the five FLCC faculty and staff members who sit on the Honors Advisory Board. I rely on these folks to give advice, share ideas, explore possibilities, and work out issues of all types within Honors. I cannot express how valuable this group is to the future of Honors and to all the things that I’ve been working on since I took over the directorship. So, I thought you should get the chance to meet them. I asked each of them to share with me a little statement about why they agreed to serve on the Board. I think you will hear each of their voices coming through, and I think you will also feel their dedication and their passion for all things Honors. And I hope that in this introduction, you can hear my appreciation and gratitude for all they do. These are not the only ones who support Honors by any means, but they are the ones who’ve agreed to let me call on their expertise regularly and repeatedly. So here they are, in no particular order...

Dr. Linda Ross

Faculty Member

My name is Dr. Linda Ross and I am an Associate Professor of Psychology in the Social Sciences Department. My specialty in psychology is clinical psychology and I have many years of treatment and teaching experience. I have always been extremely curious about how and why people become who they are as an adult. I have wondered again and again why does a given individual do the things that they do and how did they become a person who thinks and feels and behaves that way? Honors Studies courses provide me with a venue for sharing with interested students some of the research that has resulted from this burning curiosity, exploring such topics as: How does a person become gay, straight, asexual or bisexual; what kind of person kills their own children; what is the impact on a person of killing another human being?

I am serving on the Honors Advisory Board because, quite simply, Honors Studies provides students with learning experiences that are not typically available to them through standard curriculum. Between the small class size, the emphasis on student-driven discussion and self-reflection and, the wide range of highly focused subject matter from many disciplines, students have the opportunity to indulge their curiosities. Honors Studies provide students and the faculty who teach them with intellectually rich learning opportunities to explore specific topics of interest in greater depth and detail than might otherwise be available. It is this combination of focus on a specific topic in greater depth and the opportunity for students to stretch both their thinking, their academic skill set and to have the opportunity to indulge their curiosity that makes Honors Studies experiences so important to support and develop.

Johnathan Murray

One Stop

Hi, curious ones. I am Johnathan Murray, the Assistant Director of the One Stop Center. I am an FLCC alum, RIT alum, and current Keuka College student (2017). I am an educator, student, bird watcher, gamer, amateur photographer, baker, and Tolkien fan. Why am I interested in Honors? I am proud of the Honors Program at FLCC, of its uniqueness, its mission, and the opportunities it provides to our students. I think the course offerings are cool! I am appreciative of our engaged and enthusiastic faculty involved in the program.

I was asked to be part of the Honors Group for my expertise in enrollment services, I stay involved because of my excitement for the program.

Vera Whisman

Faculty Member and Assessment Coach

Who am I? My name is Vera Whisman. I’m a sociologist, with a Ph.D. from New York University. I have taught, researched, and published in gender studies and social movements. I grew up in Oklahoma, but I’ve also lived in St. Louis, New York City, Provincetown, and until recently, Ithaca. My partner Shari and I have been together for 29 years, and married for two. Our son is a college junior.

What have I done in Honors Studies? I’ve been teaching in HS since I arrived at FLCC as an adjunct instructor. My first course was Green Grrrls and Earth Mothers, an interdisciplinary course in feminist and environmentalist movements. Since then, I’ve taught the interdisciplinary social science course, “Women in Society” as an Honors course. (That course will continue under the broader name, “Gender and Women’s Studies.”) I also offer an Honors section of Introduction to Sociology.

I sit on the Honors Studies Advisory Board, and I helped in the review of the curriculum for the Honors Studies Certificate.

What draws me to teaching in Honors Studies at FLCC? First, the students: HS courses draw students who are curious and interested, who want to learn--and to think, talk, and write about what they’re learning. Second, the structure: HS courses work for my students and work for me because they offer small classes in a seminar setting, encourage exploration of unusual topics and methods, and are supported by a pedagogy of reflective learning.

What are my hopes for the future of Honors Studies at FLCC? I’d like to see HS continue to lead the way in nurturing an intellectual campus culture. For example: at my son’s high school, students were encouraged to understand that “Everyone is an Athlete.” The idea was that athleticism is not for just a small number of gifted people, but rather something that everyone can and should participate in. I’d like to see HS communicating that “Everyone is an Intellectual,” that the life of the mind is something we all can participate in, that it’s not something to be left to only a small number of gifted people.

Jennie M. Erdle

Student Life

Some may think that a Student Life and Honors Studies pairing might not make much sense, but I hope the following may shed light on how this truly has been a relationship built long ago, and how this collaboration only enhances the holistic student experience for our students.

As a Higher Education practitioner, it is important to be mindful of the principles of good practice for Student Life. It is also important to be consistent with core values which have been documented throughout the literature of the profession to enrich each of our institutions mission. Since 1937 when the American Council on Education published the first Student Personnel Point of View, the field has produced many documents about student life work. These works span seven decades, examining student life from different perspectives and for different purposes. They demonstrate the long-standing belief that higher education has a responsibility to develop citizens capable of contributing to the betterment of society. These documents affirm the conviction that higher education professionals have a duty to help students reach their full potential.

Our beliefs about higher education serve as the foundation for our commitment to the development of "the whole person"; our collective professional values are derived from that commitment. Values evident across the history of student life work include an acceptance and appreciation of individual differences; lifelong learning; education for effective citizenship; student responsibility; ongoing assessment of learning and performance (students' and our own); pluralism and multiculturalism; ethical and reflective student affairs practice; supporting and meeting the needs of students as individuals and in groups; and freedom of expression with civility. Any statement of principles of good practice for student affairs must be consistent with our profession's values and must help us meet our founding commitments.

Do this beliefs and principles sound familiar? They should, because much of what is at the heart Honors Studies program fall within these same learning outcomes. With these thoughts in mind, to take part in the Honors Studies transition has been a blessing and an honor. I have enjoyed working with the academic side of Finger Lakes Community College from the inception of a new mission and vision, to the development of learning outcomes. It has been truly a joy to celebrate all that honors studies has to offer the “whole student”.

FLCC Marketing Office

The main function of the Marketing Office is to share FLCC’s unique features and benefits with future students and their families because we know that this information is critical during college selection. We also know that FLCC offers various opportunities that people expect to only find at a large college or university. One of these unique and interesting options is the Honors Studies Program, which marries creativity with intellect, features active group discussion, and is centered on personal reflection and reflective writing. As experts on the market and our audience, we know that a substantial segment of the population is seeking this type of college experience because it is challenging, dynamic, insightful, and unlike any other learning method they’ve ever experienced. Plus, the faculty and students in the Honors Studies Program are passionate about their in-class and out-of-class learning experiences, and their enthusiasm is contagious. For these reasons, the Marketing Office is thrilled to serve on the Honors Program Board and participate as an active supporter of this successful and expanding effort.

 “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” - Helen Keller