Why Do You Want to Go to College?

And what do you want out of life?

Get ready to explore these questions and more in the Mount’s Freshman Seminar program, a year-long course taken by all first-year students. And get ready to write and write and write. …

Freshman Seminar also helps with the adjustment to college. Yes, your seminar professor will teach study skills and other basics, but more than that, he or she will get to know you, through class and as your advisor. Your professor will check in with you to see how you’re managing academically and personally and will often remain a trusted mentor even when you move on to another advisor in your major. Plus, students say the friends they make in Freshman Seminar are often their closest friends throughout college.

Sample Questions and Topics

First semester:

• Why did I choose this college?
• Why should a college require certain classes?
• What am I looking for in a job?
• What are the differences among a job, a career and a vocation?
• What’s the purpose of leisure?
• What types of activities provide me with fulfillment?

Second semester:

• Persuasion and Influence in American Life
• Friends, Neighbors and Lovers: The Nurturing of Important Relationships
• Values and the Law
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The Value of Beauty
• Shintoism and Samurai, Sushi and Pearl Harbor
• Virtues and Vices

“In Freshman Seminar, I got to know people better than in any other class. I made very good friends. My advice to new freshmen is to be open. Share your ideas, but listen, too, without preconceived notions. And talk to your professor — he or she will help you with any class.”

Jen Martin, C’05, information systems major