Do you ever feel like even though you pay your tuition, go to class regularly and make small talk with your classmates, that sometimes you just don't fit in? I know sometimes I do.
I am in my second go 'round at Purdue Calumet. I originally was a student straight out of high school in 1987. I went full time for 2 years then dwindled down to part-time, then eventually left altogether. I went to work, got married, and started a family. Then in 2006 I started part-time classes back up.
The one thing that was consistent back then and still is now, is that I don't feel a connection to the people at school. Could it be because I don't spend 24/7 with them like I would have if I had went down to West Lafayette and lived on campus? Is just making an appearance a few hours a week enough to form any kind of connection? I really don't think so. But when you take into account all the things in my life (and other people's lives I'm sure!!), I feel stretched to the limit with responsibilities and demands on my time.
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I feel you Carol. At some point it gets really easy to get left behind. I remember when I got pregnant everyone (even my parents) thought that I would drop out or quit. And at some point I'm not going to lie, but I thought about it. But the one thing I thought to myself was: what kind of life would I make for my son if I did? From then on I made that choice to stick it out to the end. Since then I've learned that time is almost as valuable as money and that I hardly have either. (lol, and a long sigh)... But talking about these sort of issues can benefit other students because I know for a fact that I am not the only one this has happened to. We as students can share our opinions and advice with our fellow students, and see what may come of it. Why not?
ReplyDeleteWhile I was surfing, I found this NY Times feature:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/ref/college/collegespecial2/coll_aascu_ecculture.html
Its really interesting and points out what I was thinking about. Colleges and Universites actively try to foster some sort of positive and strong culture for their students. They provide clubs to join, ativities to attend, lounges to meet in, and all other sorts of things. You build a network of people you have common interests in and become a part of that culture. That culture you're exposed to goes with you all through your life.
If you're living 24/7 for 4 years on a campus, you have to begin to identify with some type of society or culture on campus if you are to thrive during your stay there. How miserable would your college experience be if you spent 4 years never interacting with other students? Never discussing issues or just hanging out chatting about professors or the price of texbooks or what crappy food the cafeteria was serving today.
There are many of us here at Purdue Cal that are older than the 18-22 year old range of the traditional college student. We have jobs, spouses, children, family responsibilities and real lives outside school that take up so much of our time that we just can't be sitting around with a cup of coffee in the lounge hanging out. Sometimes even trips to the bookstore are changed to online purchases because we just don't have the time or the means to get to the campus bookstore during open hours. Should we have to be excluded from experiencing that culture and carrying it forward with us through our lives simply because we lack the free time?
So Patrice, how can we become a part of that culture? How can we get to feel a part of something so that we can remember the people we went to class with or the people we connected with because we had a common interests? How can people like you and I, who have a complete world outside of school still grasp onto a bit of that college culture that others have, in the limited amount of time and mobility that we have available to us?
I started Purdue Calumet in 2002, after a failed attempt to be "away" at school. I went to Southern Illinois University at first, and the freedom and social life took precedence over studying, so I left to refocus. Coming to Purdue Calumet I also felt like something was missing. Even during typical class hours, when the campus is busy, you really don't connect with anyone new. However, that changed for me in during the last two years at PUC. The reason is once I entered into my program, I shared a common goal with a small group of students. We all have the same counselor, the exact same course block, same testing, same elementary school field experience...So, I think that helped out a lot.
ReplyDeleteI know PUC has events that mimic those at larger "away" campuses, but as Carol said, most of us have jobs and other outside commitments. Usually when class is over, I am in a rush to make the drive all the way back home to Lowell, I don't want to stick around on campus. I think for those of us that are looking for more social connections on campus, especially the younger students, there are activities and clubs to join. I see PUC moving more towards the West Lafayette-style in the future though, with the dorms and many of the building improvements, I can see it developing into less of strickly a commuter campus.
Soon, one of my favorite times of the school year will be here...time to sell my textbooks back. Each semester this usually brings about $100 extra dollars into my life. The only problem is, you realize how much you actually spent in the first place, and feell ripped off. But, that is the nature of the textbook market, I guess.
ReplyDeleteI have been getting financial aid for 3 years of college and each semester the school sets $500 aside at the bookstore for textbooks...so I have always purchased books there. The problem with that it I can get books so much cheaper online. Last semester I bought 2 online, and this semester 1 huge science lab book online. The savings is awesome! However, if you don't have the money, you have to go to the bookstore and use the credit...that is not right!
The financial aid money is yours...you will be paying it back, plus interest. So, why isn't that book check dispursed to us early so we can choose where to buy our books??
Either way, from now on I will be buying my books online. My favorite site is www.cheaptextbooks.com, they search all the other sites and find the cheapest price, it's great.
**I have seen signs around campus of students trying to sell their textbooks straight to another student on campus. That would be great if we could set up a way to share/ trade/ or sell directly to fellow PUC classmates.
I was reading this article Searching for Culture—High and Low by Jennifer Kayahara and Barry Wellman( http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue3/kayahara.html ). It talked about how people used to go to each other for information; then when email came along they stopped talking to people and emailed them instead. As the Internet expanded, they began using it to search for the information they needed instead of asking other people. Now we are at a point where there is so much information out there that the info is sometimes too generalized. What people are looking for now is info that is more culturally biased: info that relates to them, their community or their culture.
ReplyDeleteAs I compare this to things we have discussed throughout this semester, I think I now see an important reason people are flocking to the social networking sites. It has to be for that sense of community that is lacking when all you do is search the Net for information. But it is possible to join one of those sites and never meet anyone from your own neighborhood. Or maybe you find someone who has the same interests as you but lives across the country? That would be interesting, but wouldn’t you get more out of the interaction if there were some type of local tie?
Think about some of the things we’ve mentioned: feeling isolated, being underestimated, or like you have been financially taken advantage of with textbooks. If we had an online community where we as Purdue students could come together online and discuss issues, share class information or even resell our books, imagine how great it would be for those of us who have busy lives, families or jobs that keep us from spending time on campus! If it were possible for us to find a place like that, just imagine what other types of things could we envision using it for!!
Yes Carol! I am sure there are many universities that have "MySpace-style" social networking sites solely for their school. So, having one for PUC would be great!
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to have one "place" where new students can chat with alumni, and alumni can catch up with old classmates...
I like the resell our books idea. At least we would be the ones getting our moneys worth. Since everyone is somewhat familiar with Myspace, I think it would be useful to incorpoate that style into our site. If its too tech savy then people are going to get frustrated-so I say the more simple the site is, the better. It is a good way to stay socially fresh as both of you ladies have also previously said.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the user-friendly approach like MySpace would work well for our purposes. One reason I shyed away from Second Life was because it seems too involved and over my head. I mean there are a million options and ways tojust change your appearance...
ReplyDeleteBut anyway, back to the trading textbooks idea. I think it would, obviously, only work well if there were many, many students particpating. But, imagine if you could log on and put your course list (or book titles) for your next semester on a list. Then, people can log the books they have. You would be able to search for books you need and list the ones you want to trade. That would be so, so helpful!!
We would need a mutual online place to creat such a forum :)
I agree this would be great. This way students could set the price instead of the book store. Arent you sick of paying $60.00 if not more for USED textbooks, and then only getting $20.00 back? The biggest problem with exchanging texts online is finding enough people who have the same classes and majors.
ReplyDeleteExactly Amanda...if we didn't have basically the whole university involved, it would be tough. Ideally though, it would be such a cheap (free) option, that everyone would want to be involved. I think the first and second year courses, like COM 114, English, Bio 101, those types of courses would be easier because everyone has to take them. I think a points system would work too. The chances of someone needing your book, and you needing theirs would be pretty low, so it might not work to trade with the same person. You could lend out your books, and gain points (similar to an EBAY ranking). The more points you get, the more you can trade...something like that. That way, for example, you can borrow from Patrice, she can borrow from me, I can borrow from Carol...and so on.
ReplyDeleteBesides texbook sharing (or reselling) we could also use it to share or compare class information. You mentioned COM 114, and other classes that most people have to take. There are many different teachers for each class. We could use it to talk about how the different instructors teach the same class differently so that someone who still needs to take the class could read the opinions and choose a time or instructor to better suit them. And I don't mean let's give everyone the answers they need to ace the class before they even start it (cuz I think we all believe that your grades should be earned), but I know if I had been give a little heads up of what to expect going into a class, I wouldn't have been as stressed sometimes.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think we can all agree that things like blogs, discussion boards and forums are great ways for people to post their thoughts on a wide variety of subjects, and get feedback. In this case, the feedback could be from peers, living in the same community, going to the same school, experiencing some of the same issues. I think it could turn into a valuable resource for our students.
And while I an on the subject, I am thinking of the website Digg ( www.digg.com ); it is set up for the members to bring together from all over the internet the news and stories that interest them the most. We could use our site to do that too. If there were particular interests that we felt were relevant to our students or alumni, we could post the link and discuss so that everyone could stay informed.
I don't know if anybody remembers this, but a couple of years ago, the Student Government obtained a list of required books for nearly every class on campus, and posted that information at their website. The list was posted before classes began, that way, students had time to find alternative sources for their textbooks.
ReplyDeleteDoing something like this is a HUGE undertaking, but perhaps if several people were involved, it would be possible.
I know that you can access the course book list by going to the bookstore page, then it links to the eFollett store. You can put your course number, etc in and get your book list. I used this list to get a few books online (by ISBN number given on eFollett). The problem is, when you have your book list, you may not have the money to purchase them. For me, I took a student loan this year and received a refund check. The check does not come until a few weeks after school, so the bookstore holds a $500 credit for your books prior to school starting. So, I had to buy books in the bookstore. If they had sent me a check for my books prior to school (because it is my money anyway, that I will be paying back), I could have chosen where I purchased books.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the textbook issue, I found this on the Student Government webpage http://webs.calumet.purdue.edu/sga/ (thanks Rebecca, I didn't even know they had their own page until you mentioned it!):
ReplyDeletePosted by Tala Haddadin, Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 - 4:56 pm.
Filed under: General News
Textbooks
Do you know what textbooks you’ll need for next semester? Your professor should!
By the month of March your professor should know what classes they’ll be teaching and what books they’ll be teaching from. If they don’t know now, keep asking!!
A message from SGA
Another thing I would like is a more social-centered site where, for example, upcoming events could be posted that were not necessarily school related. The PUC official website is understandably very professional and doesn't really include a social events calendar.
ReplyDeleteIf we could posts upcoming events for students to socialize, that would be fun. For example, maybe all Education majors could post an online invite to meet up at Jalapeno's, or something like that. That could help those of us who sometimes feel "lost and lonely on campus" to meet with students sharing common interests.
MAN I HAD TO TAKE OUT LOANS FOR THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF! I was so used to grants and scholarships, well I still received the pell grant but the scholarship after 4 years ends.
ReplyDeleteThats a good idea Dana. I know I had a class member who would meet up with other Philosophy students at Borders once a week, however it was problematic because he could only communicate with his actual classmates. This left a big portion of people who may have wanted to be involved out.
ReplyDeleteCarol I like the idea of sharing information about classes. I know I've taken classes with certain instructors and then later heard about other ideas and projects that we're going on in the same classes, but were just being taught by different instructors.
ReplyDeleteAlso its also nice to have a heads up about whats to be expected from certain classes. I've entered classes before thinking they were one thing and then experiencing something completely different.
Well I am going to try to comment on everything you all touched on here.
ReplyDelete1). The isolation
I can certainly feel you on this. I don't live on campus; I live at a house. Much like you mentioned, my time out of class is usually spent ziping over to the cafeteria and grabbing a bite to eat or trying to ease my way out of the parking lot and back home.
The end result of all this is indeed a large feeling of isolation. I may banter with some of my classmates, but I don't specifically ask any of them if they are interested in doing anything after class. Like I said, this is probably my own doing, but it still leaves me feeling a little lonely or as if I don't fit in. Social websites allow me the oppurtunity to chat with classmates or just old aquaintances outside of class. This can help to fit in, and also provides an outlet for get togethers or simply conversation.
2.) The Textbooks and other money issues
Tuition has been one of the biggest nails in my wallet's coffin, if not THE biggest nail. Rising tuition fees, inflated textbook prices that we're lucky to receive half-back on, money for insurance, bills, time out eith loved ones, and college students certainly find themselves scrambling to shave off any dollar they can. With the advent of online sales, we've found that book prices are almost always cheaper. Student-to-student deals are also nice, and it would be cool to see a network or group develop for the sole purpose of textbooks. This would allow those of us who are limited by time or simply inconvenience to still communicate with one another and still barter books. I know I can use the extra money.
3.) Sharing Course and Instructor information
There has always been word-of-mouth; that has never changed. People have always talked about which Professor is good for which course. Again, with people to talk to about finding a good instructor for a course, books/materials needed, and simply good courses in general, we can often save ourselves frustration or stress.
Not everyone has time to hang around campus or chat on the phone. The think about spoken words is they only last as long as our mind can remember or what our ears can hear. Written text will last much longer. Not a single soul is within earshot of me right now, but everyone can still read these words.
We students could easily get an efficient operation of book bartering, what courses are good to take, which Professors to push for, and simply converse or arrange gatherings should we so choose to.
I always find that I learn quite a bit from the other students at PUC. And, hopefully, my classmates learn from me as well. However, I always feel very insecure when it comes to speaking up in class. Many people feel that way, but once I go online, the insecurities melt away. I am always able to speak my mind through email, text, blogs, etc. I think it would be great if PUC had a site that enabled students to speak their minds, and get to know the other students in their classes, and throughout the campus.
ReplyDeleteWe could get to know each other, share our thoughts, without having the fear of what the other person will look like once they hear what comes out of your mouth! If they laugh, roll their eyes, etc. it is behind the screen, and no one will know any different. I really think that having an SNS site for PUC students will really grow school spirit, comradery, and the learning experience.