Advising First Year Students: Lutsky, Carleton College Psychology

• What are you doing here (at Carleton)? Consider the answer that William Johnson Cory,
  a master at Eton, gave students over 100 years ago:
  
  

  [you] "go to a great school not for knowledge so much as for arts and habits; for the habit of attention, for the art of expression, for the art of assuming at a moment's notice a new intellectual posture, for the art of entering quickly into another person's thoughts, for the habit of submitting to censure and refutation, for the art of indicating assent or dissent in graduated terms, for the habit of regarding minute points of accuracy, for the habit of working out what is possible in a given time, for taste, for discrimination, for mental courage and mental soberness. Above all, you go to a great school for self-knowledge."
  
  

• Some suggestions for your work at Carleton.
  
  
  • Complete reading assignments prior to class. This will enhance your understanding and memory of material presented in class, and allow you to participate knowledgeably in discussion.
    
    
  • Think about the material you are encountering. What question is an author, lecturer, or fellow student attempting to answer in written material or a verbal statement? Generate alternative answers. Weigh evidence and reasons in support of these possible answers. Think critically both by developing an "amiable skepticism" toward claims and by seeking the good and useful. I like what Joseph Addison, the English critic, wrote: "A true critic ought to dwell rather upon excellencies than imperfections, to discover the concealed beauties of a writer and communicate to the world such things as are worth their observation."
    
    
  • Participate in class. You are largely responsible for the quality of your experience in a class. Your measured and informed participation in class--your questions, challenges, and explorations--will help create a more productive class session. Professors notice and are energized by your interest, preparation, and enthusiasm. Moreover, understanding is often created in dialogue with others. Try out arguments and positions even if you don't endorse them. And remember the advice of Lewis Thomas: "It is the admission of ignorance that leads to progress."
    
    
  • Take good notes. Listen to what authors, teachers, classmates, and you yourself are saying. Record important points and supporting details for future review.
    
    
  • Give yourself the opportunity to revise written work. "Nobody writes first drafts from God, except Mozart." Seek honest feedback on drafts of your work and revise your work accordingly. Almost all of the published work you read in class and that your professors write is first critiqued by editors and peer reviewers and revised several times.
    
    
  • Make use of supporting resources at Carleton. These include your peers, teachers, advisor, The Write Place, The Math Skills Center, The Tutoring Center, and Student Support Services, The Career Center, The Wellness Center. Your teachers care about your development and your mastery of course-related skills and materials. Give them the opportunity to help by seeking appropriate assistance.