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Sharing Ideas: Student Experiences


This is from Stephanie Spooner:

This is my first year in the Honors Program here at CLC and I absolutely love it. The classes are great and offer just the right amount of challenge to my course load. They are interesting and fun and all of the students enrolled are enthusiastic and always ready to be challenged and to learn. It is an environment that helps you as a student develop and use unique study and learning habits, as well as expressing yourself through creative course work. I would recommend the honors program to anyone who is ready to put forth that little extra effort and time into getting a fun, interactive, and unique learning experience.

This is from Ashley Evans:

My favorite thing about CLC is without a doubt the Honors Program. The discussion oriented classes, amazing teachers, and creative and individualized assignments have allowed me to have a more fulfilling learning experience. These teachers have eliminated pointless assignments or strict tests that only stress you out. Instead they have created an environment that encourages students to learn from and interact with each other. Yes, there are still papers and exams, but they allow students to truly apply what they have learned. I have taken 4 honors classes throughout my two semesters at CLC and I plan on taking as many as I can in the future.

Brian Smith's Intro to Philosophy course has probably been my favorite honors class so far, although I have enjoyed all of them thoroughly. I was unsure about this class at first because it was themed around The Simpsons, but I quickly realized that it would be very interesting. Brian taught us about each philosopher in a new and exciting way. He took on these thinkers' views and presented them as if they were his own. He allowed us complete creative freedom on one of the papers and welcomed our voices in all aspects of the class.

Another of the Honors classes, and teacher, that I have to mention is American Decades with John Kupetz. I had so much fun in this class! John is hilarious and interesting and enthusiastic about what he teaches. I feel honored to learn from him. One very cool assignment he gave us was to pick a cultural product from the 1970s to the present and do a presentation on it. All throughout the course, we learned about and discussed movies and novels and music from decades in American history, and then we were given the chance to explore something that interested us. I will never forget the experience of this class.

I could go on and on about the other honors classes I have taken and the great instructors I have had the privilege to meet (Mike Latza, Mary Ann Bretzlauf), but I won't. I'll just say this?if you are considering being a part of honors program?do it! I guarantee you'll love it!

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This is from Esra Ozbek:

I have been a part of the College of Lake County Honors Program since 2005, and this program is one of the best experiences of my college education. The Honors courses require active student involvement in the learning process and are competitive, challenging and fun.

My last Honors course was Social Problems with Professor Hutchinson in Spring 2007. This course focuses on different social issues such as gender, race, wealth, and terrorism by using different perspectives. Our class was based on class discussions led by a different student with the guidance of the books written by well-known sociologists. As a part of the Honors Course, we chose a research project about one of the social problems we analyzed throughout the class. The project included background and research of the problem, review of literature, designing the research, gathering the data and analyzing the results. My research topic was terrorism, and I focused on the perceptions of College of Lake County students on Islam and American Muslims after September 11 attacks. I really enjoyed the field research experience and believe that it will be extremely helpful in my future academic life and in my career.

I recommend Honors Courses to all students who want to experience a higher level of learning in a competitive, challenging, and sophisticated class setting.

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This is from Alice Bednar:

I have had the wonderful opportunity of being involved in the Honor's program while being a student here at CLC. To say that I have enjoyed them would be an understatement. I loved the challenges each class presented to me throughout the semesters. Sure, the classes required more thought, but I promise, it is the kind of thinking you don't mind doing. Each professor made sure that all of the students in the class knew and understood the expectations and the outcomes of all assignments. It was so wonderful to be able to sit in a classroom with fellow students that you knew wanted to be there as much if not more than you did.

Another great plus to the Honor's program is that all of the teachers eliminate busy work and really focus on the core of the class. Most of the classes that I have taken have been discussion oriented, with the professor there as a guide. I love this type of classroom atmosphere because it allows you to get to know everyone better and, as already mentioned, requires you to think. Things are put to you in ways that you never thought about before, and it just makes you truly grateful. I have learned more in the three classes that I have taken in the honor's program than I ever thought possible.

I took the English Composition I class with Mary Ann Bretzlauf, the Introduction to Philosophy class with Brian Smith, and the Social Problems class with Frederic Hutchinson. All three classes taught me the material of the class, while teaching me a lot about myself at the same time.

Mary Ann is one of the best professors I have ever had. She always had this way of making two hours and forty-five minutes go by like that. She is so intelligent and always had so much for us to take in and learn. It wasn't your average English class. I felt like we took things up a notch in her class; I am so glad that I was a part of it!

Brian is for sure something else! You will NEVER meet a professor like him ever again! He always made class go by so fast. Brian has this way of "getting into character" every time we talked about a different philosopher. It was wonderful! It would teach these different philosophies and by the time he was through, you would think he really believed what he was telling us, and then he would say, "And, now I am back to Brian Smith!" It was entertaining and enriching at the same time!

Both Mary Ann and Brian are very intelligent and funny people, and I promise, you will not regret taking a class with them!

The best part about the classes are the class size. They really allow you to get to know your classmates really well and feel like a family for the sixteen weeks you are together. The professors of the classes treat you like adults and they understand that you ARE smart. The classes also allow for more creativity than with regular classes. They thrive on our continued success and do everything in their power to see you succeed.

So, take part in the honor's program! You won't regret it!

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This is from Kristin Majkowski:

I've taken the following four Honors classes since joining the Honors program: BIO 120, HUM 221, PHY 121, and ENG 121. What I've appreciated about each of these classes as honors is that none of them particularly had a heavier work load than usual but rather, since the instructors had higher expectations for each person in the classroom as an Honors student, they gave us more freedom and flexibility to approach the class in the best way for each of us to achieve our maximum potential in learning the specific material covered in class. For each assignments required, they were willing to work with us individually as well as with the class as a whole in a way that would encourage us to obtain and even exceed our goals in completing the class successfully as well as finishing it feeling more educated about the subject to the best of our ability. For example, when we had written assignments, they'd often ask us to give our input on how we wanted to approach the assignment and they'd allow us to be creative in how we wanted to present the learned material as well as providing us guidance on how to do that if we happened to be more of an objective thinker.

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This is from Daniela Resendiz:

The CLC Honors Program offers a great opportunity. The honors classes require a higher level of thinking and application. While there is a lot of work involved, the "busy-work" is diminished and the assignments are specifically designed to challenge the students' thinking process. The classes embrace the individuality of each student and allow them to choose their own creative way of completing a take-home test or a lab-report. For example, for Kelly Cartwright's Environmental Biology, everybody looked at the same material and information; however, every lab-report was the students' own idea. I made a photo album with pictures of different trees and other vegetation. I also completed a collage, a poem, and a creative story. The CLC Honors classes allow you to be more creative in the classroom while you analyze and discuss the concepts in further depth.

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This is from Shounda Cole:

I have been a part of the honors program since 2004. I have taken Earth Science with Xiaoming Zhai, and I really appreciated his approach to teaching honors. He wanted us to understand the concepts rather than regurgitate what was in the book.

I took Environmental Biology with Kelly Cartwright and really appreciated the freedom to be myself. I learned so much about the environment, and have a much bigger appreciation for the earth (I'm still recycling).

I took Philosophy of the Simpsons with Brian Smith and really appreciated the opportunity to be creative. I may not have said much in his class but it was so thought provoking the best I could do was just sit there and digest all of the information.

Lastly I took World Religions with Ed George. I found out so much about other religions because it wasn't just classroom work all the time. We went out and experienced a couple of religions that I never would have otherwise.

My overall experience in all of my honors classes was very good. I learned so much more in those classes than I would have in a regular class. The classes are designed more to treat you like a graduate rather than an undergraduate. The class sizes are relatively small so it is easier to have discussions and ask questions. The teachers are there for you if you need them, and they are genuinely concerned about your success in the class. All of my teachers have been great and I'm glad that I had the experience.

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This is from Lisa Lorenzi:

I took Honors English Comp. 1 with Mrs. Mary Ann Bretzlauf and Honors English Comp. 2 with Mr. Mike Latza. I'm genuinely grateful to the honors program for presenting such an opportunity. The honors classes I took served as a fulfilling experience, because I got to work among people who were more on par with me when it came to academic dedication/ambition and the level of intellect in discussions and writing assignments. In addition, both Mrs. Bretzlauf and Mike Latza seemed very sincerely interested in hearing the viewpoints of my peers and me, on subjects ranging from current events to American and foreign literature. They always appeared very happy to be teaching our particular group of people, in a more intimate setting where we could all get to know each other more personally, and truly appreciate the contrasting opinions during discussion. There were the classmates we could always count on to be a little more cynical about certain topics, the ones who were simply just brilliant writers, and the ones who had especially interesting backgrounds they were willing to share and bring to life in discussions (which were in depth yet still relaxed and comfortable.)

One project I remember that really struck me as a good learning experience was a paper we wrote in English Comp 1. Mrs. Bretzlauf asked us to "people-watch," observing (but not interacting with) strangers at a site of "public space," such as a park, a cafe, or mall. The assignment was to observe different aspects of their behavior and any kind of undertones and whatever else; and then extrapolate what we saw to the larger society- basically explain what we saw and what it suggests about modern society in general. I parked myself at Union Station and evaluated people's interactions and behavior and was able to write quite a bit about the level of personal space people demand nowadays, as well as the busy, "me-first" attitude that seems to be encouraged in modern American culture. This assignment also stimulated a long, interesting classroom debate about Americans' attitudes toward work-life, strangers, and about the way public space is used. I really enjoyed this activity and felt like I drew a lot from the discussion. It was also a pretty inventive activity, something one can expect from the honors program.

This held true when I took English Comp. 2 with Mr. Latza, which also included plenty of "out-of-the-classroom" assignments, that kept us engaged, such as poetry slams, a trip to the Daily Herald during our journalism unit, and a viewing and personal review of CLC's production of the Vagina Monologues.

The CLC honors classes I took proved to be more than just classes, but interesting, tangible experiences to remember and extract lessons and life experience from. I'd recommend the program to anyone who wants to study at a higher level and meet others with some academic vigor and ambition.

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This is from Lisa Brown:

I am currently enrolled in Honors Geo 120, Earth Science, with instructor Dr. Xiaoming Zhai. Every week we meet after class to discuss the current or upcoming sections in Earth Science. These meetings provide me with an opportunity to know the instructor on a more personal level. It allows me to spend more time addressing issues that provide a better understanding of concepts related to the current chapter or an upcoming test. Even though Dr. Zhai has office hours available to students, this atmosphere is more open and comfortable and allows a person to expand their knowledge.

Last month, I researched and discussed the effects of ozone depletion and then provided this information in a presentation format to my class. Recently, I just completed a research project on global warming, and I will be giving a presentation to Dr. Zhai's Environmental Geology course on Tuesday morning. Presentations are not mandated by Dr. Zhai; they are an option. Dr. Zhai's primary goal is that his students learn to their utmost capabilities.

If you are interested in Science, then I highly recommend enrolling as an Honors student in Dr. Zhai's courses.

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This is from Ann Cooksey:

I only joined the Honors Program this semester and I'm only in one Honors class, Sociology 121. The instructor is John Tenuto. The Honors section of that class does a special project. Since we are doing a special project, we are allowed to skip one exam or skip the Create-a-Lecture project the rest of the class works on. The idea behind this is that the Honors student should be doing high quality of work as opposed to doing a high quantity of work.

For my project I was able to choose whatever topic I wanted to explore. My project is more research oriented so most of the actual work I do is in the library. My professor gave me some advice on where to look for information and recommended books that I might be able to use. The project itself is incredibly flexible. I can make it into a research paper or I can host a discussion among the other Honors students.

What I really enjoy about the program is the opportunity to discuss what I am learning with my professor. Since I was able to pick a topic I am interested in studying, the project is exciting to me and I enjoy talking about it.

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This is from Emanuel Arrambide:

I am in Honors Creative Writing I with Diane Williams, and I will be in Honors Creative Writing II with her next semester. My biggest Honors project without a doubt is writing my first book. It is the story of an event that changed my life forever, and helped a troubled adolescent that seemed to be going nowhere fast completely change his life around in a matter of minutes. I still don't even know what to call it: Vision, Seizure, Dream; they all apply.

I am very excited to be writing this book, and I have spent countless hours reviewing my messy notes and papers. This book deals with many different concepts that I think people out there need to hear. Without a doubt, I would not be the same person if this event would not have taken place. I probably never would have stepped foot in CLC; who knows where I would be now. As you can tell, this book means a lot to me, and I am putting forth a ton of time and energy towards it. I am left drained of energy and my fingers are sore from typing almost every night.

This is a two-semester project; I am conferencing with Diane on almost a weekly basis, and I feel that I am developing quickly as a writer. Dr. Penne Devery has agreed to proofread my project once I am done with the editing process. Dr. Devery and Ms. Williams have both been of great help to me time and time again, and I am very thankful for their support. Their office doors are always open for questions/comments, and I view them as two great mentors to me that have helped strengthen my inner voice.

I am also writing five short stories of events that took place throughout my teenage years, which are coming to a close this coming January. I view these short stories as exercises to help develop my use of imagery and detail in my stories. For my midterm portfolio for C.W., I was to turn in about 30 pages of writing/journal entries. I'm not sure what my total page number count was, but I want to say it was close to about 50-60 pages of work, with more coming in almost every week.

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Share Your Honors Experience

If you have a special project from your Honors class and would like to share it with us, we would love to hear from you. Please send your honors experience to Nick Schevera.

 
 
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