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I think that the thing I value most about the honors college experience is the sense
of community you get once you're part of the college. I think of it as the intersection
between a fraternity and the chess club. If I were to apply to Fresno State again, I don't
think I would do it without being a part of Smittcamp. The Smittcamp experience is definitely
what made my Fresno State experience what it is. Being a part of Smittcamp gave me a
lot of opportunities. I don't think that they were handed to me explicitly but I think that
while you're in the program the community that is there, the atmosphere that is created
by the students, the drive that you're surrounded by gives you that push that you need to go
out into the community, into Fresno State and take on leadership roles, you know, do
community service. I don't know that I would have had exposure to so many different aspects
of the University had I not been a part of Smittcamp and had connections with people
in Smittcamp, who are part of different organizations. I felt like my honors college class ruled
the school, quote unquote. Everybody was involved in something or another and because we had
those close knit relationships and friendships, we all became involved in different aspects.
I knew what was going on in student government even though I wasn't involved because friends
of mine were very involved in student government. I knew what was going on in the college of
Ag Science. I knew what was going on in the department of engineering, in psychology,
because I had friends in each of these departments who were involved. And so I think being a
part of that cohort of people who are all in leadership roles or at least involved in
various organizations, fraternities even, just gives you a sense of awareness and a
sense of belonging in the University. I felt like my class was a fixture at the University
and that we left, you know, when we left it, you know, a chunk of the University had left
with us. I'm sure every class feels that way but I sincerely feel that. The advice I would
give to a high school student who was considering the honors college is do it. I don't think
you can find a better cohort of people. I can't speak for the other classes but I know
that my class was awesome. I came in my first day as a brand new freshman at Fresno State
and I instantly had a group of people who I could relate with. And it wasn't because,
it wasn't necessarily because we were part of the honors college. It was because the
honors college had brought together a group of people who were both diverse and similar.
And the dynamic that was created was just amazing. In terms of community service I think
there are a couple of different experiences that I've had, some with Smittcamp and some
in other organizations. I think that one project we did I did with the Craig School of Business.
We beautified the college. There were a group of about 60 or 70 students and professors
who actually went and we did landscaping for the Craig School of Business. I think that
was pretty valuable. I mean you don't see a professor outside of the classroom contacts
very often and not only was it a team building exercise but it helped the university as part
of Alpha Kappa Psi, which is a business fraternity on campus. We did a lot of things where we
did outreach to the community. The thing that I would have done differently while in the
honors college is paid attention more in my classes. The honor's college offers you a
wide variety of classes. We had classes on Greek art, music, history, you name it, philosophy,
science, psychology, honors courses where you were expected to do a lot of work. And
the friends that I made in the honors college while I was at Fresno State, I mean, are lifelong
friends. They're people that I fly across the country to visit, that I fly across the
globe to visit. And people come and you know, they fly across the globe and the country
to visit me. Our families know each other, the best part of the honors college. I mean
you come into a group of people who are similar to you yet very different. You have common
experiences, we lived together, we ate together, we had classes together, we socialized together,
you know we reminisced together, we complained together, it was wonderful. And now we look
back and we remember things but more than that we've developed relationships beyond
the honor's college where we you know we're still in touch. I wrote a paper, I was looking
at this just randomly because I was cleaning out my bookshelf but I had a bound set of
papers I had written for a communications course while I was at Fresno State and it
was my sophomore year and they asked, it was a interpersonal communications course, and
they asked us to interview three close friends at the time as a sophomore. I don't know if
a year's long enough to build a very close relationship but the friends that I interviewed,
all three of them were honors college students but what was most surprising to me is that
I'm still very close friends with all of them after five, six years. And I think that's
a really compelling part of the honors college experience, the friendships. I think one of
the epiphany's that I had while at Fresno State, and I don't know if this has anything
to do with the honors college, but one of the big epiphany's that I had was I was walking
across the peace garden on my way to my Yoga class and it was this time of year, it was
the beginning of Spring semester and I had just gotten my grades and I had a 3.5 and
I thought to myself, this isn't good enough. [laughter] And so I mean that was my epiphany
and I sincerely believe that I'm walking across the peace garden, this is the thing that I
think about when I think back, in high school I knew I needed to get to college but in the
honors college it really made me think about being a, you know, it made me realize that
I still have to work hard to get where I need to go. My first semester I didn't really work
hard, I'll be honest and I, you know, had a 3.5, which is you know acceptable. But it
certainly wasn't a great GPA for graduate school and so I think that was my epiphany,
just work a little bit harder. I think that my choice to pursue law as a career wasn't
necessarily facilitated by the honors college but being in the honors college certainly
helped me. I mean that's not really, I knew I was going to be an attorney before I came
to law school or before I came to undergrad. I knew in high school. I knew in junior high.
So it's kind of hard for me to say that it helped facilitate it necessarily, the drive
to do it but I think the experience helped prepare me for law school and for the legal
career. I mean I brought a stack of books here today thinking I might be able to show
them to you but like one of them is a Public Speaking course that I had to take my first
year. As an attorney you're always talking to people. That course, the fact that everybody
had to take it was a wonderful thing because everybody has to interact interpersonally
with others. And that's definitely, I think back sometimes when I'm making presentations
or speaking in front of partners, superiors at the firm, you know, calm down, have your
checklist ready. And that's a course that you have to take as an honors college student.
So did it prepare me, yes. The classes prepare you to critically think. There's always, I
think in all of my classes there was a paper due just about every week and we had discussions
almost every class period. They weren't lecture classes and I think that made the experience
worthwhile even more because you had to defend your thoughts and you had to have independent
thoughts. And that's a part of the law, you have to defend yourself and you have to take
a stand. I think the strongest reason for pursuing an honors college experience isn't
one reason at all. I think the strongest reason is the whole college. If you're an intellectual
there is a lot of academic latitude offered by the honors college. There are a lot of
opportunities that you can take advantage of through the honor's college, not because
they're going to give you secret opportunities, just because there are people there who are
so aware of what's going on at the university and in research etcetera. If you're a very
social individual, the honors college makes you do community service. They make you become
involved in the university, I mean what more could you ask for? And if you're just somebody
who likes to be quiet, they have a quiet room where you can go and read. So I think the
honors college experience as a whole is what makes it what it is, is the reason I would
recommend somebody to apply. It's not just one aspect of it, the whole program is amazing
because you get the academic latitude, you get the social aspect of it. Like I said,
it's a toss between a fraternity and a chess club, do it. [laughter] I think it's the best
experience you can have at Fresno State. You're gonna meet a lot of different people, not
just students but professors and faculty and members of the community in general, the university,
who are all very driven people here to help you and you'll realize that this is a wonderful
place. The honors college is just a great place.