I call it "The Great Switch". The idea behind this is for people who are having problems with their major or with their roommates can switch for 2 weeks, so they can really see what it's like outside their little bubble.
People who have declared a major, but are unsure if they've made the right decision can sign up for another major's classes for 2 weeks. For example, maybe a music major is thinking twice about her decision, and wants to explore in psychology because she thinks it'd be a lot easier. She could take all psychology classes for 2 weeks, and see what she thinks.
The same with someone who is having problems their roommate. They might think their roommate is a pain and would like to live with someone else, so for two weeks, they move in with another person.
Two things could come from this "Great Switch":
1) The person could realize that what they have now really isn't all that bad and come away from the experience with a new found appreciation for their life
2) Decide that the life they chose for the Switch is actually a life they prefer, and they could find a new major or roommate.
I often here my CA tell us that everyone likes to complain, but never likes to do anything about it. The Great Switch would take away just a few more things for people to complain about.
I feel like something like this would allow students to explore their options around campus a lot more than just being undeclared or trying different classes from semester to semester.
The biggest benefit I could see coming out of this is music students can explore other options, so they don't feel trapped inside the music program. It'd be an easier way of weaving people out than to pile work on them. It also may help someone come up with a creative major, like music and studio art.
Exploration of your options is a key part of college, and I feel that a Great Switch would make that exploration just a little easier.
I absolutely love this idea! It would be really beneficial to people who are having roommate problems. I know a lot of people are starting to have roommate problems right now, so I think this would be perfect for them. They would either realize that their roommate really isn't that bad, or they would realize that they really need to move. I also think it would be cool to try out other majors. Just going full into another major class for two weeks would really give that person an idea of what it's like and whether they would like it or not. (:
ReplyDeleteI really like this idea. It would so cool to do this. I'm pretty sure if we did this I would pretend to be an actress for two weeks until I got bored and came crawling back to music. Its and awesome idea.
ReplyDeleteI like this idea because I can connect to it too. For the next semesters I will be taking some different classes from my major, and I wish there was a way I could just try it out for a little while instead of waiting the semesters to take it. For instance I'm trying to get into drawing for Jan-Term and my schedule is packed for Spring Semester so I have to wait till Fall if I want to take an acting class or another art class or a psychology class. If I could just try everything out at once I think that would be helpful too.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a great tradition! It would be helpful for roommate situations and it would probably help people to choose the right roommate for the upcoming years. :) I likes it!
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting idea. Two weeks might be a bit long, but one or two days might be do-able. In the Spring we always have Partner Day, where students are partnered with faculty or staff and wander around observing each others' lives.
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