My first-year experience at New Century College has been incredible to say the least. I have had many hands-on experiential learning opportunities that have immensely broadened my view of the world in which I live. Participating in four units over the course of two semesters has been invigorating, intensive and exhaustive to say the least. The four units of the first-year experience include NCLC 110 Community of Learners, NCLC 120 The Natural World, NCLC 130 The Social World and NCLC 140 Self as a Citizen. Each of these courses significantly shaped my views through the assignments, readings, and activities I completed.

            At the beginning of the year, I did not know what to expect. I had some idea that the curriculum was going to be very challenging and that I would have to work very hard to achieve success. I came into New Century College with my held high to the vision of bright hopes ahead of me. I did not want to merely pass each class. Instead, I wanted to excel, produce quality work, and become efficient in each of the New Century College Competencies. I am proud to confidently say that after my long-held efforts and hard work, I have met the mark and have become proficiently competent in the areas of communication, valuing, aesthetic awareness, global understanding, effective citizenship, information technology, group interaction, critical thinking and strategic problem solving.

         NCLC 110 was very difficult to get used to. I remember coming home after first day of classes with the assignment of reading “Belonging to a Generation” by Strauss and Howe and writing an argumentative essay analyzing the course text. I remember coming back to my dorm very nervous about what I was going to write and how well I was going to do on my first college paper. The assignment was significant to me because it marked the first time I reflected on my own views of my place among the generations of the world. The most significant lesson learned from Strauss and Howe was the idea that the distinction separating generation from generation was not clearly outlined. “Like most other social categories-religion, political party, income, occupation, race –generations can be imprecise at the boundaries”(Strauss & Howe 59). Reading the course text helped me to understand that I share more similarities with others than I originally thought. I was able to look past the many stereotypical categories and social constructions I encountered to form an unbiased opinion by examining those things which link individuals from all ethnicities, ages, religion, social, political and economic statuses together rather than driving them apart.

            After the completion of my first unit, I was required to study the natural world in NCLC 120. The reason I came to NCC in the first place was to get as far away from math and science as humanly possible. From my high school experiences, I regarded anything math and science related as tedious and I had to work very hard at both of these subject areas. Writing came much more fluently to me and I could be eloquent with my speech as I was able to describe the subject matter or assignment much more fluently. Surprisingly, as I began to move further into my studies of the second unit, learning about science became more and more interesting. I read a book by Sean Caroll entitled The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution. This book changed my view on science because it engaged and fascinated me as I increased my knowledge and awareness of the natural world around me.

            The first chapter I read was the most memorable as I began my scientific adventure with the Ice Fish of Bouvet Island. These ice fish were incredible because they operated on clear blood flowing through them that had a natural anti-freeze characteristic to it that enabled the fish to survive in its extremely cold environment without freezing. When describing the ice fish, the eyewitness account stated that, “They looked like other fish in most respects- they had big eyes, large pectoral and tail fins, and a long protruding jaw full of teeth. They were utterly pale, almost transparent” (Carroll). I was astonished when I read this and it was only the first chapter of the book. Sean Caroll did and excellent job of explaining the causes and effects behind the modern day phenomenon. This explanation was essential to my understanding and comprehension of the causes and effects of the ice fish and learning the information in chapter one of The Making of the Fittest increased my competence in the area of critical thinking because I was able to make connections between the various ideas presented throughout the book.

            The rest of the course text was full of example after example of cutting edge science that became more and more enthralling to read. I learned about genes, the theory of evolution, color/vision spectrum and many fascinating subjects. I participated in class more and more the fear of not doing well in unit two because of my lack of interest in science subsided. The most important personal achievement I took away from unit two was that I overcame my fears of not being able to do a quality work with scientific and mathematical subject matter. With new-found confidence in myself developed by intensive reading and writing of course material such as The Making of the Fittest, I became sure that I could tackle any subject matter that came my way.

            Winter break gave me a lot of time to reflect on my journey through NCC as it served as the half-way mark of progress. The hardest part of my freshman year had ended for me as I fulfilled my science and math credits and in first semester and was eagerly awaiting my partaking of semester two in studying history in unit three. I entered NCLC 130 and quickly found that I belonged. I was blessed with the opportunity of having an excellent teacher, Professor Leslie Smith, who engaged me every morning and afternoon seminar. It was in the study of the social world that I began to spread my wings and fly. I began to view the world around me a global understanding. Broadening my own education through self-empowerment showed me that I could have an informed opinion about anything I sent my mind on as long as I stated my claim and made my argument with scholarly evidence.

            My interest in the relationship between Christianity and Islam grew as I studied subjects like the siege of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire, the Islamic Golden Age, the Iberian Conquest, World War II, neo-colonialism and the modern concept of Orientalism. I have many Muslim friends and in with the events of 911 occurring six years ago, I have noticed that the world has become a much more hostile place for them to live in. There was a course text I read by Edward Said entitled “Orientalism”. While I was reading, I was significantly impressed by the pervading concept of Orientalism in modern society. When describing Orientalism, Said says that, "The Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also a place of Europe's greatest and richest and oldest colonies, the source of its civilizations and languages its cultural contestant, and one of its deepest and most recurring images of the Other" (Said, 27). This reading was compelling because it brought voice to the concept of the “other” because it provided a scholarly voice to the exact same feelings I was having about stereotypical stigma of western media in perceiving current events of modern Islam and the Middle East.

            Completing the Social world provided the foundational historical understanding of political, societal, and economic systems for me to analyze my role as a citizen of the domestic and international community in NCLC 140. It was in unit four that I learned to personally define my role of civic engagement. Becoming competent in the area of effective citizenship was important to me because I never thought about what citizenship personally meant to me. The two most influential course texts I read were Benjamin Barber’s “Discourse of Civility” and Adam Smith’s “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”. These course texts gave me a wake up call and provided the foundation for my growth process in effective citizenship.

            Barber’s “Discourse of Civility” showed was a call to engagement that I answered. I always made the analogy of thinking of the United States as modern-day Rome. At one point, Barber made a reference to Rome that had a deep impact on me. Barber was very clear as he said, “We have to decide whether we want bread, circuses, and horse races from our politics, or the conditions- not always so entertaining- that nurture competence and hence make possible civil self-government and long-term democracy” (Barber, 46). After reading this, I began to think about competence and accountability a lot. I am still unclear as to how to go about fostering accountability between the people and the government but I am coming up on my sophomore year of college and I plan on increasing my knowledge in this area by taking classes that are related to this subject.

            I also gained valuable insight from Smith’s “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”. I read and excerpt about relying on the individual’s strength’s and abilities and establishing the kind of accountability that Barber was also talking about. Smith said, “What is the species of domestic industry which his capital can employ, and of which the produce is likely to be of the greatest value, every individual, it is evident, can, in his local situation, judge much better than any statesman or lawgiver can do for him” (Smith, 3). I took these words and thought to myself, “I can judge my own talents, skills, social, economic, and political situation better than anyone else could ever judge for me”. From Smith, I am now more secure with myself and value my own individual abilities.

            My entire freshman year has been about integrating and making connections through reading, writing, speaking, and participating in all the in and out of class hands-on experiences that I was part of in New Century College. In Community of Learners I learned to value my place in the world, effectively communicate with others through group collaboration and recognize the connecting similarities that transcend all established societal boundaries. In The Natural World, I learned appreciate the world around me through aesthetic awareness and get over my fears of math and science as I gained the strength to tackle any assignment I faced and strengthened my scientific and mathematical skills through critical analysis and strategic problem solving. In both The Social World and Self as a Citizen, I gained the invaluable skills of global understanding and effective citizenship through looking at the past to gain insight into the future while coming up with my own personal definition of citizenship and mastered information technology by creating two electronic portfolios.

            My favorite experiences were NCLC 130 and NCLC 140 and I plan on taking the least amount of mathematical and scientific courses as possible. I enjoy learning about math and science but not enough to pursue a major in the field. As far as my out-of-class related experiences, I primarily learned a lot about global understanding, critical, thinking and effective citizenship from spending time and having conversations with other George Mason University students who were from very diverse religious, social, political, cultural and economic backgrounds. I have learned that conversational discussion of various subjects is essential to gaining a balanced perspective of the topic. Overall, New Century College’s First-Year Experience has proved to be comprehensively beneficial in the development of my skills and abilities to better understand and operate in today’s world.

Works Cited 

Barber, Benjamin. (1999). The Discourse of Civility. In Citizen Competence and Democratic Institutions (pp. 39-47). Edited by Stephen L. Elkin and Karol Edward Soltan. University Park, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Howe, Neil & Strauss, William. Generations: The History of Americas Future, 1584 to 2069. New York: Quil, 1991.

Said, Edward, Orientalism, New York: Random House, 1978, pp. 89-91

Smith, A. (1776). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. <http://adamsmith.org/smith/won-index.htm>. Selections from Book Four Chapter II and Chapter IX.

The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of  Evolution by Sean Carroll, W.W. Norton; Reprint edition (September 10, 2007)