10 Fall Semester 2018 Courses (and Advice) that Give Us LIFE
Alarms are set, The Advising Center is giving out coffee, that can mean only one thing – course registration us nearly here! As we collectively run our Degree Audits, meet with our advisors, and prep for countless contingencies just in case we don’t get the classes we want – we put it to each member of our team to give you a rundown of a couple classes (some we’re taking, others we wish we could) that give us hope for a fantastically fun, fierce, and fabulous fall semester.
You know the drill…we’ve done this in 2016, 2017, and 2018.
ELLIE
Even though I ultimately came to UVM for the business school, a large drive for me choosing UVM came from it’s appreciation of the natural world. This semester I took a break from a full business schedule and I tried something crazy by taking the “Whats Brewing in Food Science”. This was a fascinating time and pulled my interest towards these more peculiar classes that the school offers. My advice? Have fun choosing something funky and keep your options open!
NFS 050. D2: Cheese and Cheese Culture (3 credits)
Why Pick this Class? – Cheese. What more can I say. You put it on everything, you couldn’t live without it, and I assume you want to learn more about it! Students taking this course will learn the basics of cheese making and how it came to be. I haven’t thought much on the history of cheese making but there must be enough to create and entire course on it! I’m stoked for this class.
HLTH 141: Healing Touch Level 1 (0-1 Credits)
Why Pick this Class? – Healing Touch is a course that I believe will inform me on a subject that I truly know nothing about. I am going into this classwith zero expectations and am ready to be surprised. This course informs and trains students on the healing power of touch to influence human energy. I have a big heart so I don’t want to brag but I feel like I’m going to be pretty great in this class.
AMANDA
I am a huge geek when it comes to advocating, its history, social change and development. It is amazing to see how parts of this world can change for the better and affect us in many ways. Anyways, happy course surfing and registration!
SWSS 002: Foundations of Social Work (3 credits)
Most people associate Social Work with the bad that happens in this world, but Foundations of Social Work is changing these bad assumptions. Even though I have already taken this course I recommend it to students because it’s an introduction to the profession of social work, it’s functions, values, knowledge, and problems it addresses. SWSS 002 does this through guest speakers who are currently in human services, case examples, and field trips. Yes you read correctly, field trips! Foundations of Social Work allows you to have hands on experience at helping our Burlington community, if you want to get your feet wet with advocating but do not know how, then start with SWSS 002.
HDFS 161: Social Context of Development
I am excited to take HDFS 161 because it shows how social institutions like education, our community, health care, and social services affect our development which is something we do not think about often. I am excited to see how institutions I grew up with, and are still around me affected my community, and myself.
JIMMY
Ok. I have to say, to most students, my class schedule definitely doesn’t look very exciting. Although that is probably a correct assumption, I enjoy them! Yes, I am a math nerd. Yes, I enjoy stats, and yes, this will probably be the most boring section of the blog – but for you, lonely soul(s) out there who can get down with the stats…this one is for you. Anyway, here are the two classes that I am most excited for next semester.
BSAD 180: Managerial Finance (3 Credits)
BSAD 180 teaches students about the financial function in the corporation. This is the first real finance class that business students interested in the finance concentration will take. Students will learn techniques for evaluating current use of resources and proposed resource acquisitions or dispositions. The prerequisites for this course are: BSAD 060, EC 011, EC 012; MATH 019 or MATH 021; STAT 141 or STAT 143 or EC 170 or PSYS 053 and PSYS 054.
STAT 224: Stats for Quality & Productivity (3 Credits)
Stat 224 goes over statistical process control; Shewhart, cusum and other control charts and process capability studies, total quality management, and acceptance, continuous, and sequential sampling, as well as process design and improvement. The prerequisites for this course are: STAT 141, STAT 143, or STAT 211.
JAKE
ENVS 295: Birding for Change (3 Credits)
Pr. O’Kane is a fantastic professor and I am very much looking forward to taking her course next semester. Birding for change allows me to get outside and study the beautiful birds of Vermont. I great course for those who want to get closer to nature.
NR 220: Landscape Ecology (3 Credits)
The second course I am excited to take is landscape ecology. Learning about nature and what makes an ecosystem function is very fascinating to me. I believe it will be a very knowledgeable course filled with useful lessons.
MARTY
Studying the Chinese language has been a big part of my academic journey at the University of Vermont. Learning a second language is increasingly important in our rapidly globalizing society. America within our lifetime will not be the singular superpower. Also learning about the factors contributing to the economic advancement of newly developing countries gets my blood pumping!
EC 140: Economic Development (3 Credits)
This course explores the political and social factors that determine economic development in developing countries. I am interested in seeing how economic theories and models mesh with the developing world. I also have yet to take any development economic courses during my time here at UVM. Also Professor Beam is energetic and engaging. Professor Beam provides interesting and funny examples of occasionally dry concepts. Prerequisites EC011, EC012
CHIN 201: 4th Year College Chinese I (3 Credits)
It is hard to believe I am now entering my fourth year of studying Chinese language at UVM. The small but mighty Chinese department has done an excellent job in laying a solid foundation of conversational and written skills, especially under the guidance of Hu Laoshi and her immersive, learn-by-doing teaching style I have come to appreciate. Prerequisites CHIN 102
CAMILLA
Since Senior year is a nostalgic time, and since I haven’t had a need to look at the course catalogue I thought it might be valuable to leave y’all with some words of wisdom from a graduating Senior. In my past 4 years here at UVM, I have taken many invaluable classes that really helped shape who I am and what I want to do in life. However, I think some of the most valuable experiences and relationships I had during college came from the extracurricular things I was a part of, and various campus resources.
Get Involved:
Honestly, when you look back on your years in college, you’ll probably mostly reminisce on the things you did outside of the classroom rather than that time you were sitting through a 3 hour lecture and only retained 1/3rd of the information because you were scrolling through Instagram the other 2/3rds of the time. Getting involved in clubs, organizations, or other things outside the classroom is what really will make your time here valuable.
Do you think you might want to go into journalism or writing of some sort? Go to a Cynic meeting, sign up for the Water Tower, or some other on-campus publication. Do you wanna play some sports but don’t want to commit to a varsity level team? Join a club team, or just make a team with a group of friends and play some intramurals. It’s not only a great way to meet people but it’s also a great way to get some extra experience for your resume and have an outlet outside of the classroom.
Don’t be afraid to ask/ seek help:
One thing I think I regret most about my four years is having so much available at my fingertips but rarely reaching out when I needed it the most. This goes for so many things but here are a few examples:
- Career Center/ The Hub – OK, so I did use this resource quite a bit, but I totally could have used it MORE. The Career Center hosts so many workshops and events through the school year it’s almost overwhelming. These are such a great opportunity that is just handed to you for free… so go to them! Another great resource that the Career Center/Hub has is resume and cover letter reviews. These are so helpful for any job that you might apply to at any point. Be ready to get some great advice. ONE LAST THING! You can also sign up for mock interviews at the career center! So if your shiny, new, edited resume lands you an interview and your roommate and your mirror are tired of practicing with you, a mentor at the Career Center will sit with you and you can get some pro-tips from a profesh! AND ITS FREEEE.
- Counseling And Psychiatry Services (CAPS) – College is hard. Life is also hard. One thing I wish I had taken advantage of more is the fact that UVM offers free Counseling and Psychiatric services for any student who many need a little to a lot of support with anything.
- Living Well – Amazing. Free massages?? Need I say more.
- Advising Center – This is fairly new on campus, and definitely a resource I wish I had used. You can literally ask them anything. I like to think of them your older sibling that loves you no matter what article of clothing you steal from them that day.
Do you have a favorite class, or a class you’re looking forward to? Shout out in the comments!
<3 UVM BORED
