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How I learned to ask for help early and often
One of the best things about academics at Juniata, as many will attest to, is the two-adviser system. Assigned to you upon the start of your freshman year, you’ll have an academic adviser, someone who knows the ins and outs of your POE, as well as a mentor, someone who is there to guide you through your college experience. The pros of the two-adviser system are abundant if you know how to use it.
I believe that I began my first year at Juniata at a disadvantage to many of my peers, simply because I was unaccustomed to asking for help. In high school, I felt like there was a stigma associated with receiving help from teachers. When I began college, I tried to figure things out on my own instead of going to my advisers for help. So for my first two semesters, I relied on myself to schedule my courses, understand my POE requirements, and learn what each requirement meant and how to fulfill it.
It wasn’t until my second year at Juniata, when I decided to change my POE, that I finally admitted to myself that I would need help if I was going to be successful at Juniata.
(more…)Three and a Half Years of Firsts
My impending graduation has had me reflecting back on a lot of things lately. Three and a half-ish years ago, I wrote my first blog for Juniata. Now as I write my last, I thought it would be a fun full circle moment to revisit my first ever blog, aptly named “A Year of Firsts.”
My first year of college was one of much adventure. I met my two best friends, lived with my first roommate, gained and then lost the freshman 15, discovered many new passions, tried a million new things, and started figuring out who I was.
Rereading my first blog, I see that so many parts of it were true and so much has changed since I wrote it. I pulled a few quotes that I think are especially relevant to the course of my reflection:
(more…)The 4 toughest questions I’m asked on a campus tour
As a Campus Tour Guide, I am often asked questions that are tough to answer. Although many questions people ask are ones I can easily answer like, “How many students study abroad at Juniata?” Many of these questions can be answered by skimming our website. However, there are other questions I’m asked that are more subjective. I’ve picked the top 4 tricky questions I get asked on tours and break down my answers.
#1. How is the food?
I love having the opportunity to answer this question. Seniors at Juniata right now definitely have the advantage in answering this question because we got to experience both Sodexo’s (our previous food service provider) and Parkhurst’s (our current food service provider) dining styles. We’ve seen Juniata expand their dining services and offerings, which is cool. We’ve seen the implementation of the little allergen icons on menus, the debut of the Clean Plate station—both of which were game-changers for people with allergies and dietary restrictions. That’s my long-winded way of saying that Juniata students constantly push our dining services to reflect our wants and needs. Trust me, as far as the taste of the food goes, Parkhurst does a mean grilled cheese and tomato soup (and an amazing job with everything else, too).
(more…)My journey through Juniata’s pre-dental program
I tend to get one of two reactions whenever I tell people I want to be a dentist. The first being some variation of, “I could never put my hands in someone’s mouth!” or “Mouths are so gross; I have no idea why you would want to do that.” The second is some reference to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Hermey saying “I want to be a dentist.” (shout out to you, Dad). Since the 7th grade, I have had my mind set on being a dentist, and the path Juniata has taken me on is one that continues to turn this goal into a reality.
A unique component of Juniata’s pre-health professions program is specialized advising from summer orientation before your freshman year. As a pre-dental student, I was matched with an adviser who specializes in pre-dental advising, making it easier for my advising sessions to be personalized to me. As a student in health professions, you have an adviser specifically for this, as well as a general adviser outside of your designated POE to help you incorporate a holistic approach into your education and help you include your other passions into your academics. From your first day of classes, you are immediately introduced to the entry-level science courses you will need for professional school. With small class sizes, it is easy to seek out help from your professors in class and build personal relationships with them.
(more…)Debunked: 3 Myths about Individualized POEs
If you know anything about Juniata, you know that we don’t have majors the way other colleges might. Sure, you can come in with a Designated Program of Emphasis (POE) like English or Business and have similar requirements to majors at other schools. But you could also write an Individualized POE of “Writing and Society” or “Marketing Strategies.”
There are many myths about the process of individualizing your POE and about graduating with an individualized POE. I’m going to debunk three of them and explain how I individualized my own POE.
