I had already planned to post a lot of blog posts to sum up my past four years at Wake, before my life on campus ended. So, I am going to keep with my plan.
The only thing that will change is that my backdrop will not be somewhere on campus, but rather, somewhere on Long Island.
These blog posts will be a little painful and sad to write, but I know that they will useful to someone in the future, even if it is just myself years from now, trying to remember what classes I took in college.
Freshman year
Fall Semester (17 credits- WHO let me do that?! BAD idea)
1. FYS- First Year Seminar: Night at the Museum (3 credits)
All freshmen are required to take a FYS class. You can pick from an assortment of subjects and topics. I picked this one because I thought it would be like the movie Night at the Museum, but it wasn’t… But it was still the coolest class ever! We got to make our own museum exhibit for our final project. We also got to visit a new museum in Winston-Salem every week, as part of the class.
2. FRH 212- Experiencing French and the Francophone World (3 credits)
All Wake Forest students are required to take a foreign language up to level 200. I placed into French 212 with my French AP score. This technically was the only French class I had to take at Wake to fulfill my requirement, but I decided to continue my French studies. In this class we watched French films and focused a lot on the different Francophone (countries that speak French) countries. I don’t remember it being a super hard class.
3. HES 100- Health and Exercise Sciences: Lifestyles and Health (1 credit, half semester)
All students are required to take both HES 100 and HES 101 to graduate (unless this has changed). This was a basic health class taught by teaching assistants. We learned about nutrition. Nothing that we didn’t already know.
4. HES 101- Health and Exercise Sciences: Exercise for Health (1 credit, half semester)
Another required class. This class was more hands on. We went to the gym and learned how to use certain machines. We also had to run a mile and a half to pass the class. That was NOT fun!
5. MTH 111- Calculus (4 credits)
I am not a math person. I never have been. But I thought I could be. Oops! This was my 8am, first semester, and boy was that rough. Middle and High School both started at 8am, but in college 8am’s are horrible. And I am a morning person. This was my first and last 8am in college. The only good part about this class was that I met Joe, my best friend, the first day of class, freshman year at 8am!
Once a week we had a lab (hence the 4 credits- 1 was from the lab), to work on our online homework with some TA’s.
6. POL 113- American Government and Politics (3 credits)
This was a really hard class, just like Calculus. I thought it was going to be easy considering I took AP Government, my senior year of high school and I wanted to be a politics major. But, nope, it wasn’t. I failed the midterm and the only other test in the class was the final. The professor was really mean, not a good teacher and a really hard grader. Needless to say, I did okay, but it was not my best.
7. FYE- First Year Experience: The College Transition (1 credit, pass/fail)
My faculty advisor taught this class. It was an elective class that taught us how to be college students. It taught us the importance of not reading every single word on every single page of a book. It also taught us the importance of a work-life balance. And, we learned how getting A’s is important but not THAT important.
Spring Semester (13 credits)
1. FRH 216- Studies France and Francophone Literature and Culture (3 credits)
This was my first French major requirement class. I think at this point; I knew I wanted to be a French major. In this class we read a lot of French novels and watched a lot of French movies. It wasn’t my favorite class, but it was fun!
2. ENG 165- British Literature (3 credits)
It was a super easy class. We had daily pop quizzes and two papers; I think. We read Mrs. Dalloway, Pride and Prejudice and King Lear, just to name a few. I love British Literature, I always have. My only intention was taking this class to finish my English requirement. But this class made me want to be an English major. It was my favorite class that semester.
3. COM 110- Public Speaking (3 credits)
Another one of my favorite classes. I speak very highly of this class on my campus tours. I think this is such a useful class. Regardless of what your major is, or what you do for a profession, you need to have public speaking skills. This class was really fun, because shocker, I love to talk. It was an easy A for me!
4. HST 108- Americas and the World (3 credits)
I have always loved history. In this class we focused on Latin America and how to define “history.” It was an easy class and very fun. I really enjoyed thinking about how to define “history.”
5. MUS 114- Collegium Musicum Vocal (1 credit)
This was a small choir ensemble that only met once a week. In the fall, I auditioned to join an A capella group and didn’t make it, so I joined this ensemble in the spring to have some music back in my life.
Sophomore Year
Fall Semester (14.5 credits)
1. FRH 320- French Conversation (3 credits)
My favorite French class! The whole class was focused on speaking. There were no written tests or written assignments. All we did was speak and discuss and present. Our professor was even from France! Doesn’t get better than that. Speaking is definitely the hardest thing to do in any foreign language. I am so glad I took this class, because before taking this class, I was so anxious to speak French but by the end of the class I was very confident in my speaking ability.
2. BIO 113- Evolutionary and Ecological Bio (4 credits)
I had to take some sort of science class with a lab (hence the 4 credits) to graduate. So, I took this BIO major requirement class just because it sounded interesting. It was hard. I was definitely the only non-Bio major in the class. But it was super fascinating. This class was taught by two professors because one professor spent half the semester living and studying Darwin’s Finches on the Galapagos Islands. Once a week, we had a hands-on lab. It was fun!
3. REL 102- Introduction to the Bible (3 credits)
This was an easy A class. I wanted to take this class, because although I went to religion class when I was younger for yearrssss, I clearly didn’t pay any attention. I thought this was an important class to make me a more well-rounded individual.
4. POL 250- Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and US Politics since 2001 (3 credits)
This class sounded fascinating but was a total snooze fest. The professor was very old and not at all animated. It wasn’t too hard of a class but it was definitely very lecture based and almost made me fall asleep every class. The subject matter was super cool though. We learned all about 9/11 and the policies that went into place afterwards. With this class, I was thinking about minoring in politics, until I realized I needed 135 hours to double major and minor, as opposed to 120 hours to graduate with just a double major.
5. MUS 115- Concert Choir (1 credit)
I finally joined the Wake Forest Concert Choir the fall of my sophomore year. I was a little late to the game, but better late than never. This class met three times a week for 50 minutes. It was a big-time commitment, but I really loved to sing and perform. I took this class from my sophomore year until my senior year. Honestly, by the end, I was totally burnt out. During this spring break we went to Spain!
6. MUS 161v- Individual Instructions, Voice (.5 credit)
I decided to take voice lessons this semester to try to catch up on a missed semester of singing. I really didn’t like voice lessons. I used to take them when I was in middle and high school, when I was really into singing and performing, but my interests changed.
Spring Semester (15 credits)
1. POL 274- Arabic and Islamic Political Thought (3 credits)
I really liked this class. The professor was super animated and super passionate about the topic. Every couple of weeks, our class would have a conference call with a class of students in an Arab country. It was SO cool! But this was my last politics class. It just wasn’t for me.
2. FRH 319- French Grammar (4 credits)
This was the hardest French class I have ever taken at Wake. I seriously struggled with grammar. My biggest problem was that I hadn’t focused on French grammar since high school. I was two years out of high school and did not remember anything but the basics. I also was never taught serious French grammar like this class covered. Another big problem was that schools no longer teach English grammar, so if I couldn’t understand English grammar, how was I supposed to understand it in French?! Great question! The professor was very understanding and caring. I went to her office hours every week begging for help, and she happily assisted.
3. ENG 266- British Literature 1800 – Present (3 credits)
ENG 266 and 265 were required classes for the English major. I kept a list of all the authors we read on my computer for another class I was in. We read Wollstonecraft, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Carlyle, Newman, John Stewart Mill, Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Matt Arnold, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Wilde, John Ruskin, Christina Rosetti, Walter Pater, Rudyard Kipling, W.B. Yeats, Conrad, T.S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf.
4. ENG 265- British Literature before 1800 and Intro to the Major (3 credits)
I kept a list of all the books we read in this class too, so here it is: Dream of the Rood, The Wanderer, Wife’s Lament, Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Canterbury Tales, Utopia, Faerie Queen, King Lear, Shakespeare Sonnets, Paradise Lost, Oroonoko, Mathew Prior, Mary Collier, George Crabbe, Oliver Goldsmith and Gulliver’s Travels.
5. MUS 115- Concert Choir (1 credit)
6. WGS- RAD: Rape and Defense (1 credit, Pass/Fail, half semester)
This was a highly recommended class. I learned how to defend myself against an unwanted predator. The Wake Forest police department taught this female-student-only class. For the final, we had to run away and defend ourselves against a cop who was pretending to be a predator. It was a really cool class and I learned a lot of important things.
Junior Year
Fall Semester- Dijon, France (15 credits)
1. FRH 350- Studies in French Language and Culture (6 credits)
2. FRH 351- Advanced Oral and Written French (3 credits)
3. FRH 352- Advanced Oral and Written French (3 credits)
4. ART 271- Studies in French Art (3 credits)
All these classes were a bit of a blur. They kind of blended all together, so we never really knew when we were in each class, except for ART 271. I received a full 15 credits from Wake Forest because it was a Wake Forest Study Abroad program. I pretty much completed my French major. I only needed two more French classes after that! It was the BEST program and I would die to go back abroad.
Spring Semester (14.5 credits)
1. ENG 326- Studies in English Renaissance Literature (3 credits)
In this class we focused on plays of the English Renaissance. At the end of the semester we even went to Virginia to see one of the plays that we read in class.
2. ENG 323- Shakespeare (3 credits)
I am a huge Shakespeare nerd. I love him! This class was so fun because I got to reread some old favorites and read some of his plays that I have never read before.
3. WRI 340- Practice in Rhetoric and Writing: Investigating Innocence (3 credits)
This was my favorite class this semester, and maybe all of college, dare I say. The class was 12 students: 6 were undergrad writing or journalism students and 6 law students. We had a journalism professor and a law professor. In this class we worked on a real-life case and helped create a narrative for our client. I would spend hours writing for this class each day. I was obsessed with working on the case. I actually wrote my Law School personal statement about what I learned from this class and how this class inspired me to apply to law school!
4. FRH 329- French Business Communication (3 credits)
This class was a two-part course with FRH 330 (that I am currently taking now). The goal of these classes is to become competent in Business French. I learned how to negotiate, how to make a resume, how to conduct an interview, how to write a cover letter and how to give a business presentation, all in French.
5. DCE 124- Social Dance (1.5 credits)
Okay, this might be my favorite college class. I love to dance. Always have, always will. I especially love partnered dancing. There is something just so sexy and romantic about dancing with a partner. This class met three times a week in the morning and would brighten my day instantly. I had a handsome dance partner from the track team. I also had Wake’s star wide receiver, Sage Surat, in my class! I learned to waltz, tango, fox trot, shag, and swing.
6. MUS 115- Concert Choir (1credit)
Senior Year
Fall Semester (14.5 credits)
1. ENG 375-American Drama (3 credits)
So, most of the classes I have taken I have enjoyed to some extent or another, and at most thought they were okay classes, but this is by-far the WORST class I have ever taken at Wake. Don’t worry, I have contacted the English Department and have discussed with them why this class should no longer be listed as an English class. For starters the class is taught by a theater professor. Which is fine, I was in theater my whole life, and I thought it would be nice to take a class in another department. But that was a mistake. The class only had 5 other students in it. Our professor was judgmental and lazy. You weren’t allowed to speak without her cutting you off mid-sentence. That’s all I’m going to say about this class. It was a horrible experience.
2. WRI 344- Magazine Writing (3 credits)
After loving WRI 340 so much, I decided to take Magazine Writing, which I heard would be similar to what I did in my previous writing class. It was very similar, except this time, we got to pick our own topic! I wrote a fascinating article about marriage culture at Wake Forest. I am planning to post it on T&P because I am so proud of it and also, because I think it is so fascinating. Stay tuned to read that!
3. ENG 302- Ideas in Literature: Culture and Law (3 credits)
I loved the title of this class. I was immediately drawn in. I had already been studying for the LSAT for a bit of time by now, and I was eager to take a class that involved some aspect of law. Unfortunately, this class did not live up to my expectations. The discussions in class were fascinating, but we hardly touched on the law and hardly read any articles or documents relating to it. So, it was a bit of a disappointment, but I still enjoyed the class.
4. FRH 370- French Senior Seminar (3 credits)
Another one of my favorite French classes. This class was taught by the head of the department, so I felt extra special during this class. This was a major requirement class. To me, this class felt like another one of my English classes. We would read for homework and then discuss themes and ideas in class. My friends hated it, but I absolutely loved it!
5. ENG 398- English Studies and the Professions (1.5 credits, pass/fail)
This was a once a week, pass/fail class that I was interested in taking because the goal was to focus on getting a job after graduation. We had a professor from the English department, who I became good friends with, and another professor from the Office of Career and Personal Development, that I also became good friends with! This class was really great because it FORCED me to revise my resume, my LinkedIn bio, my elevator pitch and everything in between!
6. MUS 115- Concert Choir
Spring Semester (14.5 credits- online classes for the second half of the semester and all pass/fail because of Corona Virus)
1. FRH 364- French and Francophone Prose Fiction (3 credits)
This is a lecture French class. We have read a couple of French novels so far. You guys know, I love to read! This class is very similar to FRH 370 from last semester. My last required French class!
2. ENG 399- English Senior Seminar (3 credits)
This class is different than anything I have ever taken before. For starters, this is a strictly senior class where we are working on a thesis like project. At the beginning of the semester we had to pick a topic that we would research and work on until graduation. I am writing about Elizabethan stage costume and its continuous conversation with street dress in Elizabethan England. Secondly, the grade of this class is based on how many modules you complete. This class focuses on the quantity of your work versus the quality of your work. This is a very refreshing way to end my English career.
3. BUS 111- Business Professional Life Skills (1.5, Pass/Fail)
This is my first and last business class at Wake. Before we went online, this class was even in Farrell Hall, the Business School building. I am learning all about how to file my taxes, how to budget, how to buy a car, how to network, how to get a job, and how to invest in stocks. I have really enjoyed this class. I’ve learned so much and I think that every college senior should take this class.
4. ENG 373- English Literature and Film (3 credits)
I love this class. I have never taken a class like this before. I decided to take it because it sounded fun and the work load seemed lighter than some of the other English classes I have taken over the years. In this class I have read and watched: The English Patient, The Hours, Atonement, A Passage to India, and am currently reading Never Let Me Go, just to name a few. Our class meets twice a week. One day, we discuss the novel and then the next class we discuss the film. I’ve read a lot of award-winning books and seen a lot of award-winning novels thanks to this class.
5. FRH 330- Business French for Management (3 credits)
This is the second part of the Business French course. I took FRH 329 last spring. This class is a bit of repetitive from the last class. The goal of these classes was to become competent in business French and take the DFP, an exam that allows you to be certified in French Business. But because of the Corona Virus, we are no longer going to take it, which I am not happy about.
6. MUS 115- Concert Choir (1 credit)
In total: 118 credits at Wake + 4 credits from AP classes = 122 credits
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