It's exciting to be here, and to be participating in this. There's so much to say I'm not sure where to begin, but I think the best way to use this blog is as a tool for sharing information--a way for me to learn about you and you to learn about me--so to start I'll give a fuller introduction of myself, and we can begin getting to know each other.
I'm a senior at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. 'Senior' means I am in the final year of my studies. In the beginning of May I will officially finish with my work at Vassar and they'll give me a degree--proof that I've done all of my work in good faith. I majored in English, so I've spent most of my time here reading great British and American Literature and criticism of that literature.
I was born in Simsbury, Connecticut, a town of about 30,000 people. Connecticut is the third-smallest state in the country. Simsbury is a two hour drive from Vassar. In this area of the country, we drive almost everywhere we have to go. Though gas prices are on the rise it is still much cheaper, and more convenient, to drive than to take buses or trains.
To prepare me for Vassar I went to Simsbury High School, the public school in my town. Public school means it is free to attend for students and funded by taxes. There are also private schools in my town. Private schools require that the students (or the students' parents) pay tuition. Some private high schools are as expensive as college tuition!
Vassar is a small liberal arts college. Only about 2600 students are enrolled and all of them are undergraduates. the label 'liberal arts college' means that there are no graduate programs at the institution, and it has also come to mean by convention that the courses at a liberal arts college will be more theoretical and abstract in nature than the courses at a university. For example, you cannot learn to become an engineer or a computer programmer at Vassar, though you could take classes in mathematics, computer science, and cognitive science. If a Vassar student wants to become an engineer or an architect, he or she probably needs to continue on to another school where they can teach you those things.
That's not to say that a Vassar education isn't valuable--it is. Because the school is so small, students get much more attention from their professors than most university students do, and because the courses (and the students) are not totally focused on an immediate practicle result, the Vassar student's mind is generally more free to explore creative ways of thinking about a problem than a typical university student's is.
I should also say a quick word about Poughkeepsie, New York. When you hear New York you may automatically think of New York City. That's quite natural. Even in America when we say 'New York' we usually mean the city. Economically and culturally New York City is the most important place in America. But New York State is actually quite large. There is a lot of farmland in New York state, not to mention the beautiful Niagra Falls way up north near the Canadian border. Anyway, Poughkeepsie is an hour and a half away from New York City by car.
As I write this, I'm sitting in Vassar's library. The building is about 150 years old, but it's been remodled many times since then. It's full of long wooden tables for reading and writing, but it also has many computers and is equipped for wireless internet service. Vassar's library is large for a college of its size, though it is by no means the largest college library in the country. Every college and university in America has its own library, and they definitely vary in size.
There's so much more to say about Vassar, but I have to get back to work. Soon I will write more--about what we do for fun here, and about how classes work. And I also want to talk about my Junior year at Oxford because British colleges are very different from their American cousins. In the mean time, please leave me comments and questions. I'm afraid the difference between universities and liberal arts colleges might be confusion. I want to know about Chinese libraries, and how colleges work there. Or maybe some of you have been to New York and want to share your experiences. Or I can trade you some New York City stories for some Shanghai stories.