Students, Not Numbers

Franklin and Marshall College is one of the institutions that offers its students the chance to work one on one with a professor in a subject matter that really interests them. This semester I am working on an independent study in Latin. It only meets once a week and I have the opportunity to get personal attention from a professional who has worked on Classical texts his entire life. In this independent study I am going to be transcribing and translating a Latin text of which we do not yet know its origin and history. Hopefully after the translation process we will be able to figure out a date estimate and its uses. I’m really looking forward to this because not only does it provide me the opportunity to work with a real text, but it also allows me to get to know my professor. F&M isn’t one of those schools where the students who attend it are just seen as a number on the attendance list. In my classes other than my independent study this semester, I have less than 15 kids in every class. The professors know my name, and I can come to them during office hours and work with them one on one with the problems I’m having. I guess one of the downfalls with this is if you enjoy anonymity, and being able to skate through a class without putting much effort into it, you won’t be able to do so here. One class I had last semester had four students in it, and each of us every class had to present the work we had done out of class. If someone didn’t do their homework, which wasn’t very often, not only would you not be able to hide it but you also had to try to figure out the material on the spot. Needless to say, if you come to F&M, you should do your homework.