Hartwick+College

I attended [|Hartwick College] which is a liberal arts college located in Oneonta, NY. I attended the school from 1996-2000 (what a baby he is!). The school is unique in its 4-1-4 semester system. This requires a student to take 4 courses in both the fall and spring semesters and one course during the month of January. It is the January course [|(J-Term)] that is what I feel made my college experience so exciting. To have a J-Term the fall semester and winter break end a little early and the spring semester starts a little late. During this four week period a student can stay on campus and take one course, usually attended daily, or they can take a course almost anywhere in the world! Less then 50% of the student body stays on campus which allows for a great time to make new friends and beat the cold weather. The classes abroad include African safari, Hawaiin islands, Galapagos islands, European countries, etc. Each trip has a specific agenda related to subjects back on campus. For example, the hawaiin island trip was a geology field trip. The trips do cost money but each student receives a voucher for money towards one J-Term trip. I was only able to attend one J-Term trip. the trip was to Vienna, Austria. We studied the culture and history of the country in to main cities Salzburg and Vienna. We also had the ability to travel on two of the weekends. Therefore, I was also able to visit Prague, Czech and Venice, Italy. The experience was also and very eye opening to view things in the future on a more global sense. The school was also unique by giving each new student his/her own laptop computer. Although they are much more commonplace now, when I attended school the laptop just went color! They have a philosophy to keep the student in touch with the entire world rather then just the campus. Therefore, there was internet access everywhere. This practice is still with the school and I feel students still benefit from it. As a [|geology] major I was also able to travel in the Northeast to study outside the classroom with at least one field trip a semester. As a proud member of [|delta delta gee], our little geology group, we spent many long weekends hiking and camping looking at outcrops on the sides of many roads. In both my major and my core classes class size was never an issue. This included classes with under 10 students for almost every geology course. This allowed for alot of one on one time with your professor. In some cases this included going to a professors house for a group review and a bite to eat! I was also a member of [|Alpha Chi Rho] a greek fraternity at the college. Greek life is just one of the many social activities one can become involved in when attending the college. For those that enjoy the outdoors you leave within minutes of statelands, and for those that want to socialize there are many coffee shops and movie theaters in town. In the same town is SUNY Oneontat which allows for a large social community even though Hartwick College only has an enrollment of approx. 1500 students Although this is very descriptive of what I was involved in during my college years I am unable to put into words the many memorable experiences and enjoyment that Hartwick College afforded me.