Academics

Heidi Specht • Apr 25, 2019 •3:55 pm

Conservative Wave Rises in Spain

While Americans experience the rise of Trumpism in the United States, I’ve been able to witness firsthand the rise of a similar conservative movement in Spain. In December 2018, history was made in Spain when, for the first time in decades, a far-right party won seats in a Spanish regional...

Alura Neumyer • Apr 25, 2019 •3:20 pm

Coffee, Tea, and an Unexpected Boost

Every freshman is required to take a First-Year Seminar. Having come back to campus in the spring, there was only one course option available. That is how I ended up in “Coffee and Tea: Origins, Economy, Ethics.” At first, I was apprehensive. I wasn’t sure how a class about...

Lashanna Bryant • Apr 9, 2019 •3:22 pm

Double Major—Double Trouble?

When I first started attending Arcadia, I was an English major with a concentration in Creative Writing. For most of my life, I believed that that was the only thing I was good at. It was what I was known for, so I stuck with it. At first, I enjoyed it in its singularity. I was okay...

Jessica Derr • Apr 9, 2019 •2:39 pm

Learning to Favor Feedback

The nature of writing is so personal that it can be difficult to untangle it from your identity. I went through a period in which I was wary about sharing my work with others. Any criticism or less-than-stellar paper grades were a mighty blow to my self-esteem. If I was not a good writer, what was...

Jasmin Ramirez • Apr 1, 2019 •2:40 pm

First-gen Students—You Can Do It

Lately, I’ve been trying to backtrack my mind to when I was a high school senior. I know—I’m being a little dramatic since it was only about a year and a half ago, but it feels like ages! I remember the pressure and confusion that came with filling out applications. Pressure because I knew I not...

Nicole Gieselman • Apr 1, 2019 •2:15 pm

No More Taking Professors for Granted

It was the first day of class in my sophomore year. I was spending the semester abroad at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia. The campus was gigantic; it was home to a dentist’s office, more than 40 restaurants, and almost 60,000 students. It took a full 20 minutes...

Kathryn Jones • Mar 27, 2019 •5:35 pm

How to Succeed at Overloading

I have overloaded three out of four semesters at Arcadia—by choice. Overloading is when you take more than 18 credits per semester; the usual course load is 16. We aren’t allowed to overload while doing FYSAE, so my first Spring semester was normal. First-semester freshmen are not allowed to...

Lashanna Bryant • Feb 21, 2019 •4:14 pm

Joining the Honors Program as a Sophomore

I never thought about joining an honors program. Let's admit that honors programs are scary—they’re commitments, but with grade-point averages. So when Helene Klein, director of Arcadia’s Honors Program, came up to me at the activities fair and asked me what my GPA was, I was kind of stuck (I...

William Snell • Feb 19, 2019 •4:52 pm

7 Things Arcadia Taught Me

Rewind four years ago: I was a high school senior who had no clue where he would end up. A high school senior with big dreams and lots of plans, but no means of executing those plans. I was about to make one of the most important decisions in my life by choosing Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa...

Jasmin Ramirez • Feb 18, 2019 •7:00 pm

Psychology: the New Club on Campus

I recently got together with Olivia Jarvis ’21, one of the founders and current secretary of the Psychology Club, a new club that I’m sure many students (especially Psych majors, like me) are wondering about. Where did you get the idea to start the Psychology Club, and what was the process like...

Jessica Derr • Feb 17, 2019 •7:00 pm

Supporting the Professors Who Support Us

One of the greatest benefits of attending Arcadia is that I’m more than just another body in a crowded lecture hall. I am not just a number. I am not just plopped on a conveyor belt, only to be churned out at the other end with a piece of paper, a head full of half-remembered facts, and not much...

Heidi Specht • Nov 28, 2018 •8:06 pm

Tearing Down Language Barriers, Building Cultural Bridges

I sit down at an outside table at Easton Cafe, with a hot coffee at my side and a beat-up notebook in front me. Maren, an exchange student from Germany, arrives a few minutes later for our German lesson. “Hallo,” she says to me, “Wie geht’s dir?” “Mir geht’s gut,” I respond. “Und dir...