Undergraduate Culture as presented in "My Freshman Year"

I must admit I was a skeptic when confronted with reading My Freshman Year. The premise of a fifty year old tenured faculty member living the life of a freshman seemed ridiculous at best. I was pleasantly surprised by several aspects of the book.

First, I actually learned something about my students, something I had not expected. As a recent graduate I thought that I was closely connected enough to undergraduate life that I could relate to my students. That said, my own freshman year was over eight years ago as I took time off from school. Clearly, I’ve forgotten much of the anxieties of being freshman, something I should be familiar with as my classroom is largely composed of them.

In my class these freshmen are adapting to college life, as discussed in the book. I found myself looking back on my freshman year and relating to much of what Nathan says. I remember orientation, and dealing with the long lectures on alcohol, the dangers of unprotected sex, and concerns about assault. I did not live in the dorms however, so the chapter on dorm life was an interesting read for me.

Clearly I have been in dorm rooms before, but never imagined living in the dorms. It was recommended by the university that all freshmen live in the dorms but since I lived in town, and preferred to remain in the comforts of home, I was allowed to not live in the dorms. I was very glad as I am one who likes my peace and quiet.

I found the idea of dorm dwelling students seeking peace and quiet in designated common areas very interesting. I remember as an undergraduate studying in common areas around campus and it drove me crazy. I could not imagine that as an escape. Perhaps one of the reasons freshmen don’t accomplish much is that they are constantly inundated with their friends and social activities. Even in the master’s student office, I sometimes have trouble getting work done. I can’t imagine my home life being that social. In spite of all that, if I had it all to do over, I probably would live in the dorms. I think I may have been more connected with the campus, and perhaps performed better during my freshman year (frankly it would have been near impossible to have done much worse).

Performance was interestingly brought up by Nathan. On one hand Nathan is able to excuse students’ lack of reading because she now realizes that she only has two classes to prepare for while her students have as many as five or six. I think this is a good point however, for what classes are students reading? Is there a specific field where instructors have high rates of student preparation for class? I’m doubtful, and feel that Nathan is too quick to justify ill-prepared students. I do think however, we need not be completely harsh towards our students.

Nathan speaks about being compassionate as instructors. I think that this would be the piece of advice that I would be most comfortable passing along after reading this work. I think that all too often, as instructors, we get wrapped up in our own worlds. Often we forget that students are constantly juggling other obligations and classes, and may have valid reasons for not being prepared for our courses. Just the other day I found out one of my students has three jobs in addition to being a full time student. I don’t give her special treatment on account of this, but it is far easier to be compassionate when readings are not complete, or when she becomes slightly needy. As important as compassion is, I think another aspect that should be shared with future teachers is the fundamental differences between us and the typical undergraduate student.

Often in the course of mentor meetings and sessions of comm. 690, I have heard the common phrase “These students aren’t you and me. They aren’t like us.” Normally I hear this phrase when I’m overly concerned about students and their performance. The culture among freshmen that Nathan discusses largely explains this difference. I would argue that most of us as graduate students place a high value on academic achievement. Nathan speaks to the notion of college as job training and nothing more for many students. As long as the work is good enough to get the degree and survive in the work world, most of these students are happy.

Looking back on the early portion of my undergraduate career, when the thought of just getting my bachelor’s in teaching seemed exhausting and impossible, I can relate to this feeling. My goals early on were to simply get a degree so I could get on with my life. Even when I returned to school, initially my goal was to get the degree to get the job. I am glad that during my second semester back I took a challenging course and excelled. I then realized that academia is something I am good at, and am indeed smart enough to follow my dreams. Frankly it still seems surreal to me that I am working on a my master’s and teaching two classes. Although I am very happy right now, Nathan did present some startling statistics.

Nathan did not really leave me feeling all that hopeful about the state of higher education. As an individual anticipating a career in academia, the cuts in funding and change in the amount of tenure track positions is disconcerting. Also, the fact that the lower paying positions generally don’t allow instructors as much agency in their courses (something that I struggle with right now) is another aspect of higher education that made me uncomfortable. As schools are changing, so are instructors and students.

This book has changed how I view undergraduate students in many ways. First, I was glad that a sociologist was completing this ethnography. Nathan’s perspectives on undergraduate students move us from simply observing them to better understanding them. Nathan does a very good job of moving from just artifacts, texts, and conversation, to providing a meaning behind them.

I found particular brilliance in Nathan’s remarks on the decorating of different dorm room doors. She nicely explained each decoration and then moved into explaining the overarching themes. Nathan also used these artifacts to explain their meaning in freshman culture. I think this glimpse into their world as revolving around a culture that stresses sociability, humor, and fun (Nathan, 2005) can be highly useful for us as new teachers. Towards the end of the book, Nathan touched upon the presentation that was communicating using this culture when presenting the more formalized culture of the academic institution. I believe that it is our responsibility to try to reach our students, even if it means we have to adapt to their culture.

As skeptical as I was entering this reading assignment, I feel that My Freshman Year has significant pedagogical value. The book provides us a glimpse into undergraduate culture that is impressively accurate. Further, the book moves beyond a simple glimpse into the culture, but also explains the meanings behind the artifacts, rules, and arguably different language of undergraduate culture. Although I don’t agree with some of the arguments Nathan makes defending undergraduate students, I feel that this work is a fantastic way to get a better understanding of our students.