Ryan Stratton ([info]ryanstratton) wrote in [info]deadtreepride,
@ 2007-08-18 02:10:00
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Hello, Marlboro!
I'm Ryan, an incoming freshman, and I will soon be on the hill in September--Schrader, exactly. I just discovered this Livejournal community and am glad to have done so.

I'm just posting to say hi--although if any of you Literature/writing students have any suggestions for courses, or comments about teachers, I would appreciate it greatly. (I do know, for starters, that I will try to take at least one course with John Sheehy--I sat in on one of his classes when I came to visit and was just blown away by his intensity. I look forward to having him as a teacher.)

So, thanks. And I'll see you (the current students, at least (it's so reassuring to see how active the alumni still is)) soon!

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[info]jopjapsusanna
2007-08-18 06:19 pm UTC (link)
I'm Lucy, I'm going to be a senior, and I'm living in Schrader 3, so I'll probably see you relatively frequently. Your RA, Kareshma, is one of my closest friends. She's absolutely amazing. You're very lucky to have her for your first year.

As to courses and professors, with the writing and lit. departments, I kind of feel like you can't go wrong. I haven't had all of the professors, but I've heard things about the ones with whom I haven't taken courses, and they all seem to be/are really good. It tends to come down to personal preference of teaching, I think. For instance, Gloria is one of my Plan sponsors, but I've only taken lit. courses with her, not writing seminars. I think she's an excellent lit. professor, but I know other students who didn't enjoy her style as much as others'. I also hear that her feedback on writing isn't always useful. I sat in on a class with Sheehy, and you're right, he's intense and very good. But he gives A LOT of work. So be prepared for that. Laura, another writing professor, is demanding, but I learned a lot from her. She's very reasonable, I think. Brian Mooney teaches a course or two from time to time when he's covering for a professor who's on leave, and should he teach during your time at Marlboro, I highly recommend a course with him. He's fantastic. Geraldine, lit., is an adorable old woman who really knows her stuff. I took a Shakespeare course with her, and she was very thorough. I'm not remembering any other profs whom I've had, but if you have more questions, ask away! My screen name is Lucia Cocopie, or you can friend me on facebook and we can talk through massages (aka messages).

Welcome to the school, and good luck! And have fun on your woods trip, if you're going on one. (I'm not re-reading this for errors, so if there are any [i.e. spelling, grammar], apologies. I'll probably be more annoyed about it than you will.)

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[info]jopjapsusanna
2007-08-18 06:19 pm UTC (link)
p.s. my facebook name is Lusa, so if you do friend me, look for that name, and not Lucy. that's someone else.

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[info]ryanstratton
2007-08-19 02:35 am UTC (link)
Ah, well, I'll be in Room 2. So there is a rather good change of seeing you relatively frequently.

And I think I'll try to get a few writing/literature courses with a few different teachers, to get a feel for their teaching styles. Although, do you think I might want to avoid taking too many English classes? How many is a good number to not be overwhelmed with papers?

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[info]jopjapsusanna
2007-08-19 04:12 pm UTC (link)
I think that all depends on how quickly you can read and how much reading and writing you think you can handle. Generally a writing seminar has 2 3-5-page papers and 1 8-10 page paper, or maybe a 10-12 page paper, along with shorter writing exercises of varying lengths. I am a really slow reader--and a slow worker in general--so taking too many English courses at once has been really overwhelming for me. (I have done it though.) I would say that having 2 classes heavy in writing/reading is probably more than enough. Or, it's at least a good, challenging place to begin. If you find you are able to do it and want more writing per semester, then go for it. But I think you'll be on your toes with that, especially because you revise your papers often and hand them in again. So with 2 classes heavy in writing/reading, you'll always be working on one paper or another.

I also think that taking a variety of courses is important in college, so I would say that there's no need to take more than 2 English courses in one semester anyway. You don't need to branch out so much that you take a bunch of art or science classes if they're not really your thing, but at least take other courses for some balance and breadth. Your advisor, however, will probably encourage you to take courses that may not be in your primary interests, as it is a liberal arts school. But you can always refuse. Or say no in a regular way. =)

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[info]ryanstratton
2007-08-19 04:51 pm UTC (link)
Ah, well, maybe I'm too used to the generic schedule we have at my high school--7 classes a day, everyday (albeit shorter, less-intense classes that I imagine I'll be taking at Marlboro). So, after a quick check of the Marlboro website, I see that there's a 12 credit minimum, a 15 credit suggested average, and an 18 credit maximum per semester. And after glancing through the course list, it seems that most courses are for 4 credits, many for 3. Would I be right to assume that most Marlboro students take four classes a semester? In which case two English courses certainly would be a significant chunk of my semester.

And, yes, I'm absolutely interested in a broad, liberal arts education--there are courses on the course list in Philosophy, Photography, Sociology, and even Math that sound interesting to me--for some reason, though, I imagined I'd be taking more than four classes a semester. I suppose I'll just have to ration the interesting courses outside of my concentration to myself over the next four years. And who knows; maybe they'll soon be a part of my concentration. It seems that's what a Marlboro education is about.

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[info]jopjapsusanna
2007-08-20 03:19 pm UTC (link)
People take between 3 and 5 courses a semester, I would say, depending on how many 1- or 2-credit courses they add to the mix. So yes, taking 2 English courses would be about half of what you'd study in the semester. But that's certainly okay. I would say a fair amount of students take 2 courses per semester in the field they're most interested in. It is difficult to weed out courses at the beginning of a semester. There are usually so many I want to take and only so much time in which to complete my work. ::sigh:: =)

My suggestion for figuring out which courses to take and which ones to put on hold is to ask how often the courses are offered. Sometimes a course only comes every 2 years, or sometimes less frequently than that. And if it's the field you're more interested in rather than the specific course, then that's another way to eliminate courses.

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[info]ryanstratton
2007-08-23 02:40 pm UTC (link)
Got it. Thanks.

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[info]artichokes
2007-08-18 08:08 pm UTC (link)
Hey Ryan. I'm Joëlle, and I'm going to be a senior also. I haven't taken any literature courses, but I have had a course (Writing and the Teaching of Writing) with John Sheehy, and he's really as great as everyone says he is. I also had Elements of Style with Laura Stevenson, which, unfortunately, was a painful experience. She's a really wonderful person (and she writes children's books!), but I just felt like I didn't learn well from her. I've heard she's fantastic in tutorials though. I think it just depends on your learning style.

And I don't know a thing about Brian Mooney except that everyone seems to love him. Same with your RA, actually. I don't know Kareshma well except that she's just so darn nice. :)

See you in a few weeks!

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[info]ryanstratton
2007-08-19 02:39 am UTC (link)
It seems that there are quite a few nice people at Marlboro. Especially those who take the time to reply on this Livejournal community.

So, thanks, Joëlle!

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"Hi" back :)
[info]usernumber42
2007-08-19 02:04 am UTC (link)
I'm in the same boat (the S.S. Incoming Freshman) that you are, so I can't exactly advise you on the ideal course list, but I can say this:

Hey. I'm Charles. Nice to meet you.

I'll see you in a couple of weeks, Ryan :)

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[info]ryanstratton
2007-08-19 02:46 am UTC (link)
Hey, Charles.

I think I've seen you posting around the Nook, and in this community a bit back--your approach to music sounds intriguing, and I hope you find your way to a few Open Mic nights so I might be able to see it firsthand.

See you soon!

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[info]cheekyweebisom
2007-08-21 04:05 am UTC (link)
Hey, Ryan.

I've already talked to you (briefly), but I will repeat my wholehearted, obsessive endorsement of Geraldine. Seriously, I think anyone who doesn't take a class with her is crazy.

Of course, those of us who become her Plan students are probably also crazy... but for a different, more workload-related reason.

(And John is awesome, too, but you already know that. And Brian Mooney's really great as well, but he won't be there this semester.)

I also think--and this is for all the freshmen out there--that, no matter what you get on the writing placement test, you should take a writing seminar. Assuming you're in a good one, they're fantastic, AND it makes it a million times easier to get your shit together for the writing requirement.

-Natalie

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[info]ryanstratton
2007-08-23 02:42 pm UTC (link)
Thanks again for your input.

And I leave for my Woods Trip tomorrow, so I'll probably see you once school begins!

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[info]neblazni
2007-08-27 04:53 am UTC (link)
Ryan, I probably met you the day your Woods Trip left (I was the crazy guy running around taking photo ID pictures) but I wanted to chime in and agree with Natalie: definitely take a writing seminar. I took a designated writing course instead, and while I enjoyed it and got through writing requirement just fine, I think I probably would've gotten more out of a seminar.

-- Will

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