November 9, 2009
Córdova discusses academics, campus life with first-year students
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"Does it get easier?"
That was the top question 14 freshmen and a sophomore transfer student asked President France A. Córdova and first gentleman Chris Foster following dinner at Hillenbrand Hall. The occasion was an informal meal and chat in the McCutcheon Hall main lounge to check in with first-year students.
And the answer was yes, to the apparent relief of most of the students dealing with tests, team projects, real-world experiments, ballroom dancing, sleep deprivation, new friends and life away from home.
"The freshman year is the hardest year by far, but it gets better," Córdova said. "You fall into the groove, your work habits get better, it gets easier."
Foster, director of K-12 STEM programs for Discovery Park, said students who can make it to their junior year notice the difference.
"You get into the courses in your major and the classes are more interesting," he said. "It's still lots of work, but more fun."
Student career ambitions included medical and law school, wildlife and atmospheric science, nutrition and fitness, pharmacy and fashion.
Hometowns varied, too. Several of the students were from Indiana, a few from Chicago, and others from Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Saudi Arabia. Reasons for choosing Purdue included academic reputation, family connections, sports team affiliation and campus feel. Several said they wanted to go to a large university because it offered more opportunities and the chance to follow Big Ten sports.
Asked if they'd been using technology in class, one student mentioned Signals, a Purdue program that tracks student engagement and lets them know if they need to step up their class work. Another student said she likes that her freshman earth and atmospheric sciences class used real data from community experiments to help teach concepts such as which local factors really affect ozone levels.
They also like the variety of campus activities they could get involved with, like the ballroom dancing competition and the human-zombie game.
Next up for the students: acquiring cold-weather gear.