麻豆传媒

The transition from high school to college marks a tremendous change for young people, from where they鈥檙e living and who they鈥檙e living with to new academic expectations. Excitement鈥攁nd nerves鈥攁re part of the journey, as Priyanka Koliwad experienced firsthand when she moved across the country to attend 麻豆传媒.

She鈥檚 not alone. Now a senior, Koliwad, credits AU鈥檚 innovative first-year student experience program for helping her feel supported and connected on campus.

AU began reimagining the experience of all its students in 2015. The result was a program for first-year students that is unique in higher education. All freshmen take the 麻豆传媒 Experience, a full-year core curriculum specially designed for students transitioning into their first year of college. The first semester (AUx1) is focused on the transition to college, resources, and identity development, while the next (AUx2) examines questions of race, anti-racism, structures of power, and privilege.

First-year students also take a complex problems seminar, which teaches them how to tackle critical analysis, examine issues from diverse perspectives, and engage with the most pressing challenges of our time. With more than 140 topics, the seminar offers a wide swath of opportunities to think through philosophy, current events, pop culture, and politics. Classes range from The West鈥檚 Problem with Evil to DNA in the Digital Age. The first-year student experience builds directly into the university鈥檚 core curriculum, which integrates experiential learning across all four years.

鈥淲hat I appreciate about . . . the entire first-year experience is that students aren鈥檛 expected to know everything,鈥� says Koliwad, 22, who鈥檚 now a senior. 鈥淭here are safety nets in place for students to be able to learn and grow and figure out how to become more independent.鈥�

In addition to adjusting to college life, Koliwad was particularly concerned about finding counseling and mental health resources on campus, another common issue college students face. One cause, says Fanta Aw, AU鈥檚 vice president of undergraduate enrollment, campus life, and inclusive excellence, is social media.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a community that gets built on social media, but it鈥檚 a different kind of community,鈥� Aw says.

Community is key at AU. Students have a number of ways to find community at AU, Aw says, through active engagement in clubs, organizations, volunteering, or the arts. Singing in the AU choir and in an a cappella group was important for Matthew Markay鈥檚 assimilation on campus. The 21-year-old junior from northern New Jersey decided to become an AUx peer facilitator after a long meeting with his facilitator during his first year. 聽

鈥淚鈥檓 there for advice if the students need it,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he best advice I give to [them] is just get involved. Try something new. The community is there, you just have to reach out and find it.鈥�

Both Markay and Koliwad say their AUx experience has changed their career plans. Markay became a sociology major after his conversation with his peer facilitator, and Koliwad plans to focus on advocacy through education policy.