Starting with James

I learned about Colorado College from my brother, James Silvester who graduated in 2013. Ever since my brother decided to attend CC in December of 2008, I have always wanted to follow in his footsteps. Now, the more time I spend at Lewis & Clark College the more I wish to be at Colorado College. Lewis & Clark is not a bad school, but there are several aspects of Colorado College that I wish I had.

The Beginnings

Whenever my brother would call home or stop by over vacation, I was always eager to hear about his latest adventures and intellectual insights from Colorado College. I was captivated by his stories of this wonderful place where students work hard and still have time for amazing adventures with friends. He was always doing something exciting, whether it was sand dune boarding or starting his own company in an entrepreneur course. Experiences like these have made me excited about CC for years. I finally got to experience CC for myself at the end of my junior year of high school by taking a summer block. It was a profound experience that solidified CC as my number one choice for college. The students I met were intellectually curious, yet open to everyone’s ideas and views and so excited to explore the outdoors. ‘These are definitely my kind of students’ I remember thinking while I was out hiking up Mt. Arkansas, our classroom for the day.

*Thats me at the top of Mt. Arkansas, taking notes from the summer course at CC. This picture also appears in the flyer on CC’s campus that advertises taking a summer block!

The Block Plan

Having class on a mountain is not something that normally happens at Lewis & Clark because teachers do not have the flexibility that CC’s block plan provides. I personally enjoy hands on learning, and really, what could be more hands on than learning geology at the top of the formation you are studying? Also, I thrive when I can put all of my focus on one subject. It allows me to put all of my effort on one task and expand my knowledge. Finally, one of the most important things I feel the block plan provides is a close relationship with the teachers. At Lewis & Clark, the classes are small, but in order to get to know your teacher, or more importantly for your teacher to understand you and the way you work, you have to go to their office hours consistently. Unfortunately these are only once or twice a week and sometimes you wont even be able to meet because of other students waiting first. By having one class, both the teachers and the students spend more time together and have the ability to connect on a more personal level.

I can't convey enough how the students at Colorado College are the most unique and mature individuals I have ever met. I visited my brother at Colorado College my junior year of high school. During my time there I had the pleasure to meet many of his friends, who were sincerely interested about me and my opinion on CC. Never did they try to act as a dominant figure talking to a little “high-schooler”. They treated me with the same level of respect as any one of their good friends. It was a great feeling to meet students who were just excited to get to know me. A year later I returned to CC and saw some of the same students I met the previous year. To my surprise they were extremely friendly and welcomed me back to campus. Not only did they remember who I was but they also remembered our previous conversations. I recall one in particular asked about an issue I had discussed with him a year ago. I was shocked with how much these students remembered and truly cared about me. Even though I had just applied to CC, at this point, I already felt a part of the community.

If that was not enough, the stories they told of their rock climbing, mountain biking, snowboarding and hiking made me even more excited to be a port of the CC student body. I love to be outdoors, and what better place to experience the outdoors then The Rockies with fellow cc students? I still have yet to find students that were as caring, friendly or intellectually curious as the student body at CC and I would love to be apart of it.