My Freshman Year Summary

Reading My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned By Becoming a Student twelve years after it was published is similar to what Rebekah Nathan experienced when comparing her notes to Michael Moffat. I found myself recognizing some of her observations but with others I was completely lost. At times, I wondered if the changes between her vision and mine were due to the changes in time, or changes in college. The university she studied was a state university that is very large. While University of Maine at Farmington is also a state university, it is extremely small for a public school and that affects the culture of it. This comparison between colleges is something to be considered when researching. It would be impossible to do fieldwork at each type of college in America, but it is viable to research specific topics about multiple colleges; especially easily
Nathan’s discovery of the working student because in my eyes it was obvious. She talks about how students are doing assignments less than they used to and I immediately thought about how students have less time to do these things because they need to work. Dr. Nathan realized this, but instead of delving more into why students tend to work more than they used to, she skimmed over it. The talk of why jobs are necessary to students because of high tuition is just assumed. Without this clear statement though, it makes it seem like students are choosing work of study. Throughout her ethnography she mentions things that suggest students are being pressured with the fear of getting a job or paying for college. She talks about how the popular clubs on campus are those that look good on a resume, and how when freshmen first get to college they are given a speech on how to stand out and get a job. Without saying it out right it is implied that students have the freedom of choosing which courses they want, but are restricted on what they can choose based on what is expected of