From the Bronx to the Cornfields

Introduction
I am a course instructor for Psych 340 Child Assault Prevention.

I feel like it is a pretty diverse student body, compared to where I went to undergrad in New York. There is a broader population of different groups. In my department, they make an effort to actually recruit a more diverse student body.

I went to undergrad in the Bronx in New York so I was used to the city life. Then I came out here to the cornfield. It was a very hard adjustment last year. Still this year I am working on adjusting to it. This campus is more active than my old campus was in the Bronx. I am looking to go back when I am done here.

Campus Life and Social Life
From what I have seen and talked with my undergrad students, there are a lot of opportunities here that aren’t offered at other public universities. In our department even, there is a diverse course range for electives. Students have more activities to go out to the community and do field work. That wasn’t even offered at some of the other schools I applied to. It is a big state school so compared to smaller private schools, it makes the town itself. During the Final Four weekend, it was absolutely insane and great to be here for that. I think those things set it apart.

I am in a graduate program so most of it is discussion. We rarely have any type of lecture. My average class size is 5 people. It’s very different for undergrads here though. I teach a class that has 18 students. I think that is a bit smaller than the average class size here. At the graduate level, I think it is pretty typical to have discussion classes that are smaller.

I think I have a pretty unique situation with my students because of how close of age I am to them. I make it a point not to tell them how old I am and let them guess about it to the end of the year. I do get respect from them and I think that is because I am very honest with them and I don’t try to talk down to them. They do come to visit me in office hours. We will make appointments for office hours. I know all of their names. I have mostly seniors so I write them letters of recommendation for grad school. I get to know them at different levels too. That has definitely been my best experience here—teaching. I have a great group of students. I have taught it for 2 years so I have had a really good experience with it.
In my class the typical student is very intelligent. They actually have to interview to get into the class. They are very community minded and social justice minded. They go to elementary schools and talk to kids about bullying and issues of abuse which is a very hard thing to do. I think they are very dedicated. They put in many hours a week over what a normal class would require. They are pretty passionate about what they do which is incredible because a lot of times you just want to take the class to get an easy grade and get out. Which is what I did in college. Advertisement
Academics
As far as sports goes on campus, the atmosphere is just electric. I came to class the afternoon of March Madness, and there was a sea of orange. It was absolutely incredible. I think everyone in the school had on an orange shirt. The school I went to, we weren’t really a sports school, even though I’ve always loved sports, this is a completely different world. I think it just adds so much to the richness of the campus. I had family and friends come in from New Jersey just because it was such an outrageous experience. Even during the regular games, it is just a culture into itself. It is definitely an interesting part of the experience here.

I think the party scene is different for graduates and undergraduates. For the graduates, it’s more of an off campus kind of party scene and less intense than undergrads. As far as undergrads, just across the building from the psych building I am always in, there are two of the main bars. It’s a pretty intense scene especially on days like Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day when people are out from 8 am until who knows and it’s just a huge party all day long. Even on Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays there are always people coming out of the bars. As far as drugs go, I don’t know much about it. My students haven’t talked to me much about it. But I know the drinking scene is a large part of the campus. Fraternities and sororities are big on campus. They make up a substantial number of students here. As far as the parties go, there are parties in fraternities that overflow into the bars. I do think it has earned its ranking as a top party school. It’s pretty intense.

Student Body
As far as my work load goes for graduate school, it is very intense. I work more than I sleep. It is a different level here. But I think that is the nature of graduate work in general. A lot of weekends are spent studying instead of partying which really stinks. At the undergrad level, I don’t think it’s the same thing. As a teacher, I don’t give them an overbearing amount of work. I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. At the grad level, it’s out of control. We get a lot of work.

As far as the community goes, I would describe this town as a university town. Of course there is the community outside of the university. But the university makes up a huge part of it. Someone comes into this expecting a university-type town. There are a lot of different things to do on campus. There is a wide range of things to do on the actual campus but leaving campus, there isn’t so much to do. We just aren’t in a large city. The most you can get out of it is on the campus. It is rich in the cultures here. It is a pretty diverse campus. I think that makes it a pretty great place to be in. I would caution people who go out in the town away from the university. Unless you like corn and cows.

As far as the IMPE building goes, they have been putting new additions on it and they have been renovating it. I used to go their last year religiously to work out. Students and faculty members go there a lot. From what I have heard from my own students, since it has been renovated, they added a lot more new equipment and there is a lot more room. The gym is gigantic here compared to where I went to undergrad. There is a basketball court and pool and volleyball court. There are a lot of different facilities there. It’s great.

In Closing...
Overall my experience here has been very great. I’m still adjusting from the city to corn. But I would still come here if I had the choice to do it again. For students who are looking to come to Illinois as a possible place to do their undergrad, they should consider whether they are willing to be in a large public university-type setting. This epitomizes that. If you are looking for that, this is the place to go. You also have to keep in mind that you are not in a city. However, there are cities within a couple of hours. You can take that into consideration too. If you are looking for a large city, this is not the place to go. But if you are looking for a large public university that is not in a city but still has access to that, then I would really recommend it. I like it a lot. I would come here again if I had the chance.