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Torchbearer: Spring 1998 |
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Living And Learning TogetherS. Yvonne Loveday Leaving home for college can be both exhilarating and terrifying for first-time freshmen. Along with the thrill of independence comes the horror of, well, independence. "It's such a big campus. There are 25,000 kids here," says Rajeshree Solanki, a freshman from Kingsport, Tenn. Solanki eased her freshman jitters by joining the Stewart Community, a program to help entering freshmen make the transition from high school to college. Community members attend most of the same freshman classes, live on the same floor of Morrill Hall, and have group outings together. "We spend so much time together going to class. We hang out during the weekends. I guess we're good friends now," Solanki says. Nearly 75 good friends–not many freshmen can make that boast. Two similar programs, the Volunteer Community and the EXCEL Experience, allow first-time students to live on the same floor and participate in cultural, educational, and social programs while taking English and First Year Studies classes together. The Stewart Community is the first to incorporate a full schedule of classes together. In addition to English and First Year Studies, Stewart members take biology and math together. Living with classmates has its advantages. "When you're walking to class, there's always someone you can walk with, or whenever you need help in math, there's always someone right across the hall in the same math class," Solanki says. Dani Gray, a freshman from Greensboro, N.C., is glad she joined the community. "I think it was the best move that I could have made for me because I'm from out of state and didn't know a lot of people before I came. We were just kind of forced to get to know each other," she says. "At the beginning of the year we did little 'get-to-know-you' icebreakers." Getting acclimated to college life and making new friends on her own would have been much harder, Solanki says. The Stewart Community was and is a built-in support group. "We've done a couple of activities with the whole Stewart Community," says Solanki. "We went to a football game last semester and did a couple of activities around campus. We're supposed to do a bunch more things this semester." Seventeen members of the group are commuter students, says Elizabeth Ferguson of the Center for Undergraduate Excellence. They are known as the Stewart Connection. "They are part of the community and take the same classes which have been set aside for the community," she says. They also attend group outings. The community is named for Dr. Bain Stewart, emeritus professor of English. Stewart came to UTK in 1940 and served as director of freshman English from 1958 to 1971. He was department head from 1971 to 1976. Stewart received the Phi Eta Sigma Award in recognition of excellence in teaching in 1966 and the UT Alumni Outstanding Teacher Award in 1968. Students had the opportunity to meet Stewart at an open house last November. Solanki says the community approach eased her transition to college life. "This has just made things so much easier. If I had this to do over, I would definitely do it again." Return to Spring 1998 table of contents. |
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