Moving through College: What Happens Each Year?
While the Alma Experience will be different for every student who attends, there are many common threads that bind the journey into a whole. The general highlights of each year are summarized below:
First year/Explore and Redefine The Welcoming Convocation with faculty, parents, and students formally begins the college journey. Students come to college with many interests and with many ideas about their future that range from firm to very unfocused. The first year involves exploring the environment of college, trying on new roles and new directions, and learning more about oneself and one's abilities. You may be taking the beginning courses for several possible paths (or as part of the distributive requirements). During this year, you will make many friends and engage in a number of activities as you determine what suits you. Some students who seemed very sure of their future will now begin to question their direction and either find a better match for their talents or re-commit to their original vision.
Second year/Clarify and Connect You are often narrowing choices and may continue to take beginning courses in several areas. By now you are more aware of what suits your abilities, not just your interests. Even if you are still open to many possible futures, you most likely will be connecing to a specific discipline by taking advanced courses. Unique opportunities, such as internships, service learning, or off-campus study, may be on the horizon, and you should have a fair sense of yourself as a learner (style, abilities, needs). By the end of this year, you will declare a major if you have not already done so.
Third year/Focus By this time, you are usually fully engaged in a field of study, and are completing general education requirements that you have specifically selected to enrich your central interest. You can articulate your path and point with pride to those activities you have completed or plan to include in your path to graduation. You should have a sense of the relation between major selection and life goals. This is the most common year for students to participate in off-campus study, if it fits into their overall academic plan. Those students in pre-professional programs or planning for graduate school are making use of unique opportunities, such as undergraduate scholarship/research or other professional activities. Minors, or other less formal programs, may be added to your academic mix.
Fourth year/Implement You will have completed a graduation audit in the fall of the year, so that your academic progress is well understood. Creation of a resumé, mechanics of the job search, and the finalization of future plans is an ongoing process. Application to graduate and professional school occurs in the early fall as well. Completion of remaining courses and the senior capstone experience and/or exam helps students gain a sense of their disciplinary competence. The walk across the graduation stage at Commencement marks the formal end of the journey.
Remember, you may be progressing a little faster, or a little slower, than indicated here! Specific information may be found in the appropriate web pages for each academic year.
