Honors College
Honors College sounds like an intimidating program. When students first hear about it, words like time-consuming, extensive, and hard come to mind. However, what most students don’t know is how Honors College makes it a goal to motivate students to have a better experience in college. It gives students the upper hand with smaller class sizes, scholarship opportunities, and, overall more concentration on them as students.
If a student chooses to live on campus as an honors student, they’ll live in Lycoming Hall. It is an L-shaped building with five floors, including the newly renovated basement that houses two classrooms and an open study area, that is constantly full of students playing games or studying. They are placed with cohorts of other incoming freshmen who are going through the same feelings and experiences as them, which allows them to form genuine connections that last long after college finishes.
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To join the Honors program, students who have a cumulative GPA of 95 or above automatically receive an invitation. Students with a GPA of 90–94.9 must complete a supplementary essay. To remain in Honors College, students must have a “capstone project,” in which they must write a 10-12 paper about their most fulfilling experience in Bloomsburg. In addition to this, they must have two immersive experiences, 16 hours of service work each year, and 10 credits of Honors College courses. It is not required to be a freshman to receive an invitation, as all students can join as long as they have a 3.5 GPA and an interview with the Honors College Director. I decided to study for one of my exams in the basement when I saw Melanie, a junior RA who was also in the Honors. She had a smile that brightened up the dingy room and a full backpack that had rips in the straps. "My Capstone Project is me going to Guyana and building relationships with the children while teaching them there are options out there for them," she explains. "I first saw the project aspect of Honors as a waste of time, but I'm so excited to go (to Guyana) and I'm lucky I have the opportunity to!"
Once enrolled in Honors College, students are paired with a mentor. Each month, students are required to have a one-on-one meeting with them. This month, I chose to meet with my mentor in the Honors Fishbowl. This room is dedicated to honors students to have a comfortable environment to study in. With windows that reach from the ceiling to the floor, the room gets flooded with sunlight, something that is proven to lift energy and concentration. When the room is not being used to study, there are events such as yoga, movie nights, and painting orchestrated by the resident assistants.
My mentor, Kylie, is a senior enrolled in Bloomsburg. She has long, blonde hair with a sleeve of tattoos on her arm. I asked her if she could join Honors again, if would she do it, and she replied, “The Honors program is overlooked but is so resourceful for incoming students. It is something that can benefit students for all four years of undergrad." As a student in the pre-medical field, Kylie thought she would struggle to balance social and school life while working a part-time job. “Being an honors student, I was scared coming in. I didn’t have role models who could advise me on how college is, so I had no idea what to expect. Now I have forever friends, study methods, connections, and internships. I wouldn't trade it for the world."
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