Sequence Spotlights
Olivia Monroe
Can you talk about your professors in this course?
Dr. Pazdernik teaches this sequence year long with another professor co-teaching alongside him. We had Dr. Crane with us in the fall and Dr. Ham in the winter. I really enjoyed getting to know each of these professors’ personalities as well as the passion for learning they brought to the class. I felt that they were all extremely knowledgeable about the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome and relished in passing that information on to us students. These three professors made a tireless effort to get to know the students in the sequence and facilitate the building of bonds between us as classmates. They were always available to help us out and held frequent meetings with us to provide insight, whether it was a solo or group project we were working on. Dr. Pazdernik especially responds to emails pretty much as soon as he receives them, which I really appreciated because some professors take hours or days.
What has been your favorite part of this class?
My favorite part of the class would have to be the Reacting to the Past (RTTP) games. These games allowed us to play historical characters or archetypes and debate political topics relevant to the time. Second semester was the Rome half of the sequence and I got to play THE Julius Caesar! It was so fun to build alliances and sabotage other players. You’re allowed a great deal of freedom to interact with other characters however you choose in order to fulfill your victory objectives or just widen your sphere of influence in the game! It was a super immersive and memorable experience I will never forget!
How has this class helped you in your other classes/future career?
This class has little to do with my major or my future career as a nurse. However, it was my introduction to formal college-level thought and discussion. The professors often asked us to explore philosophical or moral questions, which really improved my critical thinking skills. We were also required to give several speeches and presentations to the class which helped develop my public speaking skills. Teamwork was an overarching theme, as I’m sure it’s meant to be in all of the sequences. We worked in groups almost every class period, whether it was break-out groups to discuss the readings we had done or groups we were assigned to complete a project with. The group projects we did in this class were much more enjoyable than the ones I had been assigned in high school and helped me strengthen my relationships with other students in the class.
What is your biggest takeaway from your sequence?
My biggest takeaway from WOGAR was the community I obtained from it. Over the year our class got very close with one another and I still talk to many of my classmates to this day. The feeling of “home” this sequence gave me has been unmatched in any of my other classes thus far. There’s something special about spending the whole year with the same group of students and professors. It’s sort of what the honors college is all about. I’m extremely grateful for the community the honors college has given me. Joining was probably one of the best decisions I’ve made regarding my education.
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