"Listen to your mind and if you like what you're doing, go for it."
By Sommer Wagen
When I received the invitation to join the University Honors Program, I weighed my choice between opting in or out carefully – I had proven myself academically to get to that point, but did I want to continue challenging myself in college or take a well-deserved break from those challenges?
Ultimately, I opted in. I had always thrived in a challenging environment and I was drawn into the unique experiences UHP has to offer. The plethora of Honors Seminars centered around interesting niche topics, the opportunity for closer relationships with faculty, and the possibility of graduating with Latin Honors all had me excited to begin my journey. In my three years at UHP I have faced plenty of ups and downs, but I don’t regret my decision in the slightest.
Whether you’re an incoming freshman or joining UHP in the middle of your undergraduate career, you probably have a lot of expectations for your Honors experience. UHP has plenty of different experiences to offer and being an Honors student goes far beyond more rigorous academics. The great part of being an Honors student is the community you get to build; from fellow students to faculty members to advisors, support through your journey is always around you. With the new academic year quickly approaching, everything on the horizon may seem daunting and an established community may seem far out of reach. I’m here to give you a better idea of what to expect and remind you that even though you won’t know exactly what lies ahead, that everything will still turn out for the better.
From the very beginning, UHP gives you the opportunity to connect with your fellow Honors students through the NEXUS One experience. Think of it as your informal introduction course to UHP. You’ll get to hear about all of the different kinds of opportunities UHP provides while getting the chance to make connections with fellow students. You may or may not get much out of NEXUS One – you may or may not make your first college friends through it – but it should be comforting to know how quickly you start to receive support during your Honors experience.
NEXUS One barely scratches the surface of what’s possible through UHP. Ainsley Brown, a third-year UHP student majoring in journalism and geography, said she was drawn in by the idea of a senior thesis.
“I want to go to graduate school, so the research aspect of that process looked really interesting to me,” she said. “Also, I’m an overachiever.”
The senior thesis, completed at the end of your Honors experience, will be your chance to investigate a topic of interest within your area of study more in-depth. It’s an excellent research opportunity to prepare for graduate school and to creatively reflect on and engage your education.
If you’re already nervous about your thesis, don’t be. What you will want to research will become more clear as your time at the U goes by. Faculty and your advisors will always be around to generate ideas and help you choose something you’re excited about researching.
Courses and experiences at UHP will provide you with plenty of opportunities to explore potential thesis topics. Brown added that her favorite parts of her Honors experience have been getting to take Honors Seminars and Honors courses and has been pleased with the selection of both.
Both Honors Seminars and courses are smaller and more intimate than your typical class at the U. This allows for closer connections with your classmates and professors, another layer of community you get to build as part of UHP.
My favorite Honors Seminar that I took was HSEM 2009H: Contemporary Art and Politics with Professor Meng Tang. For Brown it was HSEM 2512H: The Mathematics of Elections, and that she also enjoyed GEOG 1403H: Honors Biogeography and JOUR 3776H: Honors Media Law.
What really pushed me out of my first year social comfort zone was the NEXUS Experience “Fear, Failure, and Catastrophe: How to Talk with Strangers.” NEXUS Experiences can be taken at any point during your Honors experience, which put me in a room with first years learning to navigate the big city like me alongside seniors preparing for graduation and beyond with four years of experience under their belts. Together over the course of the semester we learned how to deconstruct the cognitive biases and social constructs that prevent us from potentially making the connections that are most meaningful to our lives while learning from each other’s experiences along the way.
Starting any new experience means confronting our fears surrounding it, which couldn’t be more applicable to beginning your Honors journey. We experience fear for many different reasons, just as we’re brought to different places throughout our lives for the things they can teach us.
My advice to incoming Honors students is: you're here for a reason. I've definitely dealt with imposter syndrome during my time at UHP, but I haven't met anybody who doesn't know what that feels like. It would be easy for me to say to persist through your self-doubt, but it's important to distinguish self-doubt from actual struggle. Hard work doesn't solve every problem you have, so it's important to know when something is too much for you at a given time. In my experience, UHP is very supportive with whatever path you choose to go down. Listen to your mind and if you like what you're doing, go for it.