Sophomore Conference Recap

Alison, Haley, and myself

The day started off in Kesler Auditorium (in Hickok Hall) where Vice President for Student Affairs Lou Stark, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty Maire Baehr, President Phifer, and Professor of Teacher Education and Associate Dean of Faculty Terry McNabb spoke.  President Phifer's speech was interesting because it was "State of the College" Address.  He addressed the major things that were going on with Coe -- from the remodeling of Peterson to Coe's plan to slowly increase student population to around 1350 students.  Because Coe wants to expand, space becomes an issue.  President Phifer talked of multiple expansion plans that are being laid out for consideration.  It was nice to hear from the President himself what Coe was striving for and what changes we might see in our next three years at Coe.



Then it was off to the first of our three concurrent sessions.  The first one I attended was about planning for graduate school.  As a girl who hopes to be a librarian someday, graduate school is definitely in my future.  The session was run by four graduate students representing a variety of different areas.  Three were new faculty members and one was  a Coe alum.  It was an interesting session because it got me thinking about graduate school and the research I will need to do to find the "perfect" graduate school fit.

My second session was about internship opportunities.  The session was run by Diana Patten, the head of Coe's Career Services.  To graduate from Coe you have to complete an academic practicum requirement (such as an internship, study abroad/off campus study, Honors Thesis, independent project, or research).  Diana was telling us about ways to find an internship and when is the best time to look for one.  Again, this session was a session that got me thinking; I created a to do list of things I need to research or update (such as my resume).

The third and final session was about study abroad opportunities.  John Chaimov, the head of study abroad options, talked about the various programs Coe offers and how to apply to them.  He really encouraged us to find a program we find interesting because the experience will be life-changing.  John told us to come visit him and discuss our options.  I need to stop by sometime soon and discuss potential programs I might be interested in.

Haley, Alison, President Phifer, Linnie, myself, and Millie

All the sophomores got together then and talked about what we liked about Coe and what could be improved.  We all covered a lot of the same topics: the most popular response to what we loved about Coe was the community.  Every sophomore there felt close to their fellow classmates and close to the professors and other staff members of Coe.  And that's a great feeling; one of the great things about Coe.

Our new duffel bags

Our night ended with a steak dinner with President Phifer and his wife, Linnie.  It was a fantastic dinner and we even got a Coe College duffel bag as we were leaving.  Overall, a great day and it got me fired up for this upcoming year.