Tag Archives: CORE

Lessons from Core for the Years Ahead

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One of the hallmarks of the Scripps experience is the three mandatory semesters of Core. Every Scrippsie knows the trials and tribulations that the Core experience puts us through. Yet, the skills learned from our participation in Core can be applied to and help us with our four years at Scripps, as well as beyond the 5C classrooms, in our careers.

1.Life is interdisciplinary:

Core, at its core ;), is interdisciplinary. It is all about the profound connections between different fields of study, and how examining one subject area can enrich our understanding of larger concepts. Identifying and analyzing commonalities is a great skill to have. No matter what field you choose to pursue, interdisciplinary thinking will be an asset. The strongest thinkers are the ones that have a broad scope of the world. They don’t have academic tunnel vision. Instead, they are masters at using their extensive understanding of their discipline to inform and enrich their understandings of other disciplines. Whether it be in your other courses, or in the workplace, it is an advantage to be able to pull outside knowledge to the issue at hand.

2.Collaboration with peers and professors:

In core classes, collaboration is integral, and unavoidable. In the very design of Core I, discussion and lecture collaborate to provide revelations about the texts. In discussion, students collaborate with one another to arrive at conclusions by examining, and sometimes challenging, the texts. The professors’ lectures, ranging in disciplines, serve to illuminate the texts. Often, professors collaborate with students by posing questions for deeper thought in lecture or in smaller discussion. By lecturing, professors are able to explain why community matters to them and to their discipline. Essentially, they are a part of the larger discussion that is Core. Interacting with both our peers and professors about delicate identity issues that often relate to sexual orientation, gender, race, class, or nations prepares us for “the real world” where consciousness of diverse experiences is one of the largest assets in a workplace. Perhaps one of the most important teachings from Core isn’t in the content of the course, but in the skill of good-natured debate and discussion-based collaboration that it demands. Knowing how to present your ideas to peers and employers, both verbally and in writing, is a skill that Core trains us well in.

3.Core makes you a better human being:

Core I’s focus on the concepts of the nation, community, and identity provide great tools for being working members of society. As soon to be college graduates, it is vital that we put into play our newfound understandings of civilization and inequality in our endeavors. This learning can be enriching to our more advanced courses later on at Scripps or in graduate school. This learning can also enhance our pursuits in our careers, perhaps by aiming to include historically excluded identities from the academic and work-related careers we create and become parts of. For example, Professor Rachlin’s recent lecture to Core I students, “The Class Closet: How Do We Get In and Why Don’t We Come Out?”, supplies us with an awareness for the wealth disparity in our nation. This study can be applied to how we–who are lucky enough to go to college–should move through the world with a deeper understanding of class in our heads. Professor Rachlin’s lecture also provided us with the language to talk about tough issues like class with our peers and professors. Knowing the correct language to use to collaborate thoughtfully and respectfully is essential to going far in our careers.

How CORE helped me

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Scripps College is famous for its CORE program, which aims to challenge the preconceived notions students have of the world around them. Often times freshman year I heard my classmates complain about CORE, and how it doesn’t help garner skills employers look for. However, after going through the process of applying and completing internships, I realize now how wrong we were about Scripps’ CORE program. In this post, I’m going to talk about the abilities CORE gave me and how I translate them into “employable” skills.

For starters, I would never be able to communicate as effectively if I hadn’t partaken in the intimate CORE discussion classes. The subject material was always sensitive, particularly during the first semester when the CORE I theme was violence. Furthermore, the readings (from Foucault to Kant) were extremely challenging and focused around complex philosophical theories. At the beginning of CORE I, I had many opinions and reactions to what I was reading, but lacked the know-how of how to put abstract ideas into words. Also, because the subject matter was so delicate I never wanted to misspeak. I developed a system of how to process my thoughts into concrete ideas so that I could express in a clear manner. My CORE I professor helped with this by instructing us to come to class each day with 3 questions and 3 comments about the previous night’s reading. By coming to class prepared with written statements, I felt confident in articulating my thoughts in in-class discussions. It turns out communication skills is one of the most marketable skills out there – every internship I applied for calls for interns who are great communicators. Listening to others in CORE and then reacting to their thoughts in a respectful manner helped hone my ability to collaborate, express my thoughts, and create meaningful discussion. Though not a “concrete” skill – like knowing STATA or Python – Scripps’ small classroom discussions give us practice for conference rooms and team meetings.

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The emphasis of writing also helped prepare me for internships. CORE essays – though brutal in the beginning – refined my writing skills. I often go back to papers I wrote for CORE to see how I structured my introductions and conclusions, the transition sentences I used, and the overall format. Many employers want to know you can write, and when I explain the three-semester writing-intensive CORE program, they feel confident that I will be able to handle drafting company documents.

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Scripps’ liberal arts education has helped me immensely throughout my work experience. There are loads more skills I learned from CORE [multi-tasking, working under a time limit, looking at organizations from different perspectives…] but I encourage you to think of how you changed throughout the CORE experience, and why.

Finding Good Things in the Strangest Places

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The CORE program is a unique sequence in Scripps College’s curriculum. In the first semester of the freshman year, the class incorporates different disciplines and many different professors who are experts in different areas. All freshman students share a universal experience when reading the same material and listening to the same lectures. But on discussion days, the class is broken into sections of fifteen people, led by one of the professors. Discussion classes vary greatly and are very dependent upon the professor and their style.

A freshman class lecture for the Core class.

A freshman class lecture for the Core class.

Over the summer, I checked the Scripps portal and was surprised that my discussion professor was a neuroscience professor. As I am on the science track, I was excited that I was going to have a scientific perspective in a humanities based class. I was also hopeful that he could act as another academic adviser or mentor for me.

My professor exceeded these hopeful wishes. I met with my professor several times after I submitted a less-than-satisfactory paper (it happens to the best of us). In these office hours and meetings, I not only improved my paper, I got to know my professor well. Because we are both fascinated and interested in exploring the natural world, our conversations ultimately turned to the subject of neuroscience.

In one of our meetings, he offered me a position in his lab at Scripps next semester. I was so flabbergasted and elated to hear the offer. I need all of the experience I can get so I eagerly agreed.

Ironically, A professor from my humanities class is allowing me to get experience in my intended career. Sometimes the best things are found in the strangest places. If you let your motives be known and seek advice and help from professionals with many connections, only good things are bound to happen. The kind teacher that helps with papers can also help you in life by offering you experience in many other fields. So, keep your options open! Seek help from many people and one of them will undoubtedly help along the way! If you are like me, you will not be disappointed–in fact you will be happy dancing.

Tentative (but pretty much decided) summer plans

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Confession: I only applied to one summer internship program at a battered women shelter. I’m waiting for them to pencil me in, so to speak, for an interview sometime this month.

Happy related confession: Although the internship has not been officially secured (eek fingers crossed) I’ve been talking with the people who work there and it is confirmed that I will be working with them one way or another over the summer and very possibly beyond.

If I’m honest, which I’m trying really hard to be, the reason that I didn’t apply for more internships is because I really didn’t want to. I just hate filling out applications, waiting for responses, and composing formals emails. But, mostly, I hate the filling out apps part. It takes so much time and effort to package and present myself in metaphorical glitter, ribbons, and scented paper in an effort to be the most appealing candidate. Just, uugghhh. Obviously, I’m going to have to deal with it because they are as inevitable and as undesirable as taxes. But in all seriousness, I went through over 300 internships on The Gateway and most of them just didn’t feel quite…right. Props to everyone who did find and got really awesome internships that way, seriously, it’s impressive. For me though, I couldn’t shake my amplified aversion to applications this semester. Just as an explanation to why I applied to that one internship: Part of it was due to very personal reasons. The other part is that what they do there is important and necessary, the values that they stand for are values that I believe in and care deeply about, and that the community they serve is my community.

Okay, now that my dislike for applications is off my chest, the other part of my decision to not apply to more internships is that I wanted to start my own hands-on project that would have tangible effects. I mean the point of paying a ridiculous amount of money for a liberal arts education is kinda so that the things I learn here are going to be applied in real ways out there. So the specifics: I’m going to start a radio, or podcast, program specifically for showcasing the fictional, nonfictional, and everything in between works of the women who are or were incarcerated. This project was inspired by my Core II class on the prison system during which we had the amazing opportunity to participate in a writing workshop with the women at the women’s prison in Chino. Attending the writing workshops, meeting the women, and hearing their stories really got to me. Theory never takes precedence over experiences and their experiences told stories of strength, suffering, courage, and hope. Serious work needs to be done to reverse the dehumanization of people who are or have been incarcerated. They are so much more complex, more genuine, more talented, more thoughtful, more insightful, more resourceful, just so much more than an identifier heavy with stigmas such as “prisoner” can ever convey. I am very excited to be able to serve as a medium through whom their authentic voices can be amplified, spread, and most importantly heard by more people.

There are obvious perks that come with starting my own project. Some things that come to mind include the autonomy over my own work, the exciting (and equally scary) process of learning from doing, the rewarding results, the interactions with real people instead of ideas, and the working in PJs in the comfort of my own bed with the glorious Cali sunrise. (I’m a true early bird especially over the summer.) Also, no applications needed.

Looking Back, it all Connects

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Lately, what with all the personal statements for fellowships, thesis planning, and suddenly turning into a senior and (supposedly) oldest and wisest of students, I’ve been thinking about the trajectory of my academic and career interests over the last four plus years. How did I arrive where I am today? Plans and interests will keep morphing, likely narrowing, but for now it’s pretty satisfying to look back and be able to trace a thread through my activities, interests, and classes dating relatively far back. I think this is probably true for most of us. For periods of time, I may not have seen what path I was on, but looking back it seems surprisingly coordinated. Hopefully giving you a picture of this trajectory will provide good background for future blog posts.

Growing up, I learned about practices and tenets of different faith traditions including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. My family celebrated Christmas, Hanukah, and winter and summer solstice every year, and I fully observed Ramadan in 10th grade. We have a number of  Muslim Sufis family friends who are scholars of Arabic, Arab poetry and politics, and the like. I have no doubt that all this influenced where I’ve ended up interest-wise and academically, as a Middle Eastern Studies and Religious Studies dual major taking Arabic.

When I was 12 I started attending youth Vipassana meditation retreats. Six years of these and the resulting meditation practice have deeply affected  my outlook on and method of living life. In addition, I grew to delight in hearing about others’ beliefs, life philosophies, and personal thoughts on religion, especially those of people near my age. A regular fixture of the retreats were discussion groups, where we shared and and unpacked each others’ beliefs, worries, and life experiences in small groups. Since, I feel I’ve carved out an area of study that incorporates this interest in others’ relationships with religion into the more theoretical fields of anthropology, ethics, and religious studies.

Since, I’ve become a Middle Eastern Studies and Religious Studies dual major. My concentration within Religious Studies is Middle Eastern Studies, Islam being the faith I focus on most closely. Some of my favorite classes focusing on Islam include Islam versus Islam with Professor Alwishah at Pitzer and Mysticism and the Great Traditions and Islam and Democracy during my semester abroad at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London (check it out as a great possibility for those of you interested in studying abroad in the UK and focusing on regional or language studies). I took several years of fusHa, Modern Standard or media Arabic at CMC then segued into independent studies covering specific Arabic dialects. Last semester I created a class with Arabic Professor Ramadan and another friend focusing on Levantine Arabic. This semester, I meet once a week with a Lebanese CMC professor and several other students to speak and improve our Lebanese dialect specifically.

I took at CORE III called “What is Happiness?” about ethics, happiness, religion, and psychology, which led me with help from Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, and the Dalai Lama to clarify much of my personal philosophy on life. Religion, Ethics, and Social Practice junior year at Pomona brought me again to look at personal thoughts and struggles around religion and life philosophy, both mine and others’. Sharing personal stories and reflections on social justice issues got me turned on again to hearing other people’s stories. Presently I am taking Jerusalem: the Holy City in alignment with my focus on religion and the Levant area of the Middle East as well as an Anthropology seminar on Sexuality and Religion, focusing on Islam and Christianity.

This summer, I interned in Beirut and started a part of my thesis research interviewing 20 young people between the ages of 18 and 25 who had lived in Beirut for much or all of their lives. I interviewed mostly Lebanese, but also Palestinians, Syrians, Fijians, and Sudanese of all different sects about their relationships with and feelings around their sectarian and religious identities. These interviews were especially interesting for me considering the way religion is ever present and relevant in Lebanon, and what’s been going on in the Levant region for the last several years. I not only got to conduct first-hand research on a topic that fascinates me and in the region I have been specializing in and hope to work in, but also affirmed the idea that I enjoy ethnographic research and may apply for a graduate program in Religious or Middle Eastern Anthropology within the few years. Additionally, I got to work on improving my spoken Arabic (both Lebanese and Palestinian dialects). If you’re interested in learning more about different Arabic dialects, or if you’re not sure where the Levant region really is in the Middle East, check out this Wikipedia page. I like the map, but don’t forget to take it with a grain of salt.

I sort of did my thesis research backwards. As my advisor told me a few days ago, I have research but I don’t necessarily have a framework. What I’m working on now is reading scholar’s works on youth and sectarianism in the Levant and in Lebanon, as well as looking further into topics or events that were referenced by my interviewees this summer. Key topics and patterns that came up in many interviews include changing perception of the divine, the idea, even among the relatively devout, that all Abrahamic traditions essentially land you in the same place, colonization, language and religion, and hopes for the future of sectarianism and politics in Lebanon. There’s nothing I would rather study. For now, it looks like my thesis will likely be focused on shifting perception of sect and personal religious identity among young people in Beirut or the Levant, based at least in part on my interviews.

How is everyone feeling about thesis? When and how did you decide where your interests lie academically?  Can you see how your interests led you to your current point or do you feel like your path is still forming?

My friend Carly and me at Roman and Byzantine ruins in Sur, southern Lebanon. My friend Walid, who was also with us, happened to be distantly related to the soldier guarding the ruins so he gave us a very detailed private tour.