Being an Honors Student

Learning Experience Four:

            One of the big things that stood out to me this semester was that I realized that the hard work I had put in to get into honors was well worth it. Coming in to Texas Christian University, I was offered scholarship money; however, I was not accepted in to the honors program. This was a big disappointment for me, as a senior in high school. I had worked very hard throughout my high school career in order to be a part of the honors program at whatever school I would choose. Consequently, I worked hard my freshman year and got a 4.0 so that I could be in the honors college.

            Therefore, this semester was the first semester that I took an honors course. During the summer, I read all of the books before the class even started because literature has never been my strong suit. As the class went along, I began to realize it was not what I had been expecting it would be. I expected to have hours of reading every night. I expected to have copious amounts of papers that would keep me up all night. I expected for my honors class to be my most strenuous class, by far. Surprisingly, that was not the case.

            Even though there was not an inordinate amount of work/reading, I have learned more in my honors class than any other of my courses this semester. I liked the fact that the class actually involved both a teacher and the students. Professor Williams did not stand in front of the class and just talk at us the entire time. He encouraged class discussion and participation, which for me allows me to learn more effectively than taking rigorous notes every class period. I have learned that the honors college is not what I expected, but in a good way. It is still challenging in the way it made me think about abstract ideas, but not to challenging that it caused me to stress about it. This type of learning environment makes me want to learn about topics that do not necessarily pertain to my major unlike the typical core courses. Altogether, I have learned that working towards being in the honors college was well worth the work.