Morgoth Story Time!

I’ve been prompted to tell a heartfelt story about Prescott College!

This past semester after spring break I started to get real sick, I didn’t how sick or why I was sick until it was too late.  But to spare everyone the gruesome details I had complications from an intestinal surgery two and a half years ago (which is another crazy story).  I didn’t know this but at the end of March this year my colon had sealed itself off and nothing was passing through my system.  By March 22^nd of 2012 I had already began dying and no one had a clue.

By the morning of the 23rd I thought that I had the stomach flu and the community came together and took care of me while I was horribly sick.  For someone who doesn’t own a car and walks everywhere moving around with organ failure is kind of difficult.  The students here fed me, drove me around, opened their houses, and let me use their comfy beds.  The students did this for me!!!!

Before 6 am in the morning Monday the 26^th when I literally thought I was going to die from pain my friend took me to the hospital (carried all my stuff in), wheeled chaired me around, and even sat with me in the emergency room for hours!  

A few hours later and a ton of intestinal scar tissue removed I was spending a week in the hospital, of which I had as many visitors as I wanted, and afterwards I had such a heartfelt welcome at school that I knew that I was at home and these people were my family.  Even after my release from the hospital the student and greater Prescott College family are taking care of me!  

I mean… family members provide the kind of support that I received from my friends here.  I was literally dying and it was the Prescott College community that saved my life and brought me back to health!  The love is so powerful here that you can literally feel it (I accredit it towards much of my healing)!

I love this place.

I love these people.

Photo: Lucy, Ellen, Will.  These are three of many of the people who watched over me and cared for me while I was staying at Ellen and Zach’s house.  Much love to you all!!!

They are my family; they enable and empower me not only to live but to thrive!
 

I have a fierce passionate gratitude for Prescott College, and this is just one of many reasons why!

~Morgoth, 06.19.2012

Public Art: Mural Painting class proudly presents: Xeppe, Desert, y la Gente

The Public Art: Mural Painting class proudly presents: Xeppe, Desert, y la Gente

at Prescott College’s Kino Bay Center for Cultural and Ecological Studies

Bahia de Kino, Sonora, Mexico

Please read the interpretive statement below.  To view more photos and learn about the mural project and process, please visit the course blog (maintained by student Sarah Cupka): http://publicartmuralpaintingkino.blogspot.com/

Xeppe, Desert, y la Gente

Sea (Comcaac), Desert (English), and the People (Spanish)*

This mural represents the mission and vision of the Kino Bay Center for Cultural and Ecological Studies.  Based on themes of environmental conservation and research, education, and outreach, the mural reflects the cultural and biological diversity of the Midriff Island region, while focusing specifically on priority species and ecosystems, cultural interactions, and complex conservation challenges.

Kino Bay Center Mission Statement: Protecting priority species and habitats through integrated application of science, education, information exchange, and community participation

Kino Bay Center Vision Statement: Promoting and modeling collaborations between people from different cultures and institutions to co-create solutions to complex conservation challenges

The mural depicts, from left to right:

Collared Lizards, Crotaphytus dickersonae

Double-crested Cormorants, Phalacrocorax auritus

Fin Whale, Balaenoptera physalus (vertebrae)

American Oyster Catchers, Haematopus palliate

Red Mangrove, Rhizophora mangle

Reddish Egret, Egretta rufescens

Fin Whale, Balaenoptera physalus (blow)

Sperm Whale, Physeter macrocephalus (fluke)

Short-finned Pilot Whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus (dorsal fin)

Brown Pelicans, Pelecanus occidentalis

Red-billed Tropicbird, Phaethon aethereus

Leatherback Sea Turtle, Dermochelys coriacea

Fin Whale, Balaenoptera physalus

Nudibranchs, Chromodoris norrisi & Elysia diomedea

Manta Ray, Manta birostris

Osprey, Pandion haliaetus

Gulf Sun Star, Heliaster kubiniji Xantus

Sierra Mackerel, Scomberomorus sierra

Fishhook Barrel Cactus, Ferocactus wislizeni

Desert Bighorn Sheep, Ovis canadensis nelsoni

Cardon Cactus, Pachycereus pringlei

Spiny-tailed Iguana, Ctenosaura similis

San Esteban Chuckwalla, Sauromalus varius

Agave, Agave americana

The merging of visual elements in the mural is intended to represent the integration and co-creation that is fundamental to the philosophy and practice of the Kino Bay Center.   Our intention is that this mural will have many interpretations; our hope is that it will initiate questions and conversations about relationships amongst the natural environment, culture and community.

Xeppe, Desert, y la Gente was designed and painted by Prescott College’s Public Art: Mural Painting course in May 2012.  Instructor: Julie Comnick; Students: Claire Andreason, Lauren Brule, Celia Chatham, Mara Clifton, Sarah Cupka, Andi DeRivera, Maria Doffing, Audrey Hamann, Chelsea Phillips, and Mikial Tolmosoff

*Interpretive statement will be translated and posted in English, Spanish, and Comcaac (Seri).
--

A Grade is Just a Letter

When I was researching schools to transfer to, my mom had some fairly standard questions each time a new school was brought up:

“What are the average test scores?  GPAs?  How many students go on to graduate school?  What do people do with degrees from that school?” 

I know that I’m not alone in the concerned parent department (it’s because they love you) so the next time your parents ask you about Prescott College fear not!  Arm yourself with this blog post and rest easy, knowing that this school is not only non-traditional, it’s also awesome and it will help you get to some sweet places.  Now let’s make like tired toddler and go straight to the breakdown!

ACT and SAT scores of Prescott College students seem low

Prescott College was founded on an idea: if there was no such thing as higher education, what would we want it to look like?  The professors envisioning Prescott College knew one thing for certain: in a traditional model of education, there are those who succeed, and those who fail.  Traditional schooling places emphasis on reading, writing, math, and science, in the form of memorization and regurgitation for tests and essays.  Students who don’t do well at this will fail, because they’re not meeting the standards set by the system.  Who says this has to be the case?  If you take away the tests and you take away the grades, you’re left with a pile of facts that have been committed to memory—only until the next test, that is.  So what happens when you do away with tests and make grades optional, focusing instead on small classes to support student participation, and an engaging teaching style rather than a lecture?  Suddenly, you have students whose learning is meaningful and relevant.  Why are you studying agroecology?  Because you love it, and learning about it is actually pleasant because it’s all based on your own interest, rather than trying to meet someone else’s standards.  It’s amazing how much more engaging classes are when you’re there for your own reasons. 

But, back to those test scores and GPAs: why do they seem low?  It’s all about the students who come here: if you’ve struggled in the midst of a traditional setting, why would you seek out that same setting for your post-secondary education?  When a student does well on a standardized test, it means that the student tests well—not that she’s more intelligent or capable than her peers.  Assigning a number to a person’s ability to learn is two-dimensional: there’s a whole person behind that number, and it’ll be the person—not a test score or GPA—who sits down on the first day of class.  Some of the students here have been successful in traditional settings, while others have not.  Those who come to Prescott College are looking to be viewed as whole people, rather than a name and a grade on a piece of paper. 

What about the dropout rate?

The dropout rate is a statistic that is frequently mentioned here in the admissions office; here are the cliffs notes on why it looks high.  For a long time, Prescott College was a big school for transfer students.  As a result, there weren’t many resources for first time freshpeople to use, and first time students often left because of the lack of structure (which seasoned students were able to weather more easily, having already learned the general ins and outs of another college).  On top of this, there’s Prescott College’s general attitude toward learning: if you’re passionate about something, pursue it.  The self-directed nature of being a PC student lends itself to independence, and sometimes students find that college isn’t where they need to be right now. 

While the independence of Prescott College students will likely remain the same as always, support for freshpeople is growing through the construction of our new housing (they look SO COOL, I’m mad jealous of the students who get to live there) and the restructuring of our freshperson seminar during their first semester here, that these new students will have the support they need in order to be successful.

And now for the upswing…

Approximately 43% of Prescott College students go on to enroll in graduate programs within five years of graduation.  Wanna see some of the stuff people are doing after graduation?  Stuff like starting their own sustainable farms, creating programs for at-risk youth, and working to create fair trade networks—sounds legit, right?  Check out the highlights page, here: http://www.prescott.edu/connect/highlights/.  Prescott College’s emphasis on field experience translates into job experience for many graduates, and it’s not uncommon for a senior project to result in a job offer right after graduation.  You can get grades, if you so choose, in order to have a GPA for admissions to graduate school. 

Alrighty then, gentle ladies and men.  Go forth, armed as you now are with the knowledge that this is not only a place where you can earn a degree, but also a place that can prepare you for your fabulous life after graduation.  

-Claire Tuchel, May, 2012

“Prescott’s Characterful Nature”

Recently, I was presented with this question by my employer at admissions:

"What's one thing you would want to tell someone about your experience at Prescott College that they might not find out on their own or tell from the website?"

Almost immediately I thought “Prescott folk are weird!” but then flashbacks of me freaking out my boss while saying this to prospective students come to mind. So I was trying to think of another way to express this. The word characterful does nicely I think!

char•ac•ter•ful - (adjective)
[kar-ik-ter-fuhl]
1. highly expressive of character: a characterful face.
2. having remarkable character: a characterful prose style.

However, this doesn’t really express what I am trying to say here and why I thought it was important that students know this (considering they can’t acquire this information on the website). My co-worker Claire (hi Claire!) mentioned that there needs to be some type of qualifier that that denotes we are all weird in the sense we are ourselves. With that in mind I think what I am trying to say here is…

Prescott College students are comfortably themselves!


Picture: The Environmental Advocacy Club posing after a successful campus trash pickup, we are pointing at the sky to be confusing on purpose!

 This isn’t necessarily upon entry… there is something about the whole Prescott College experience that provides multiple learning experiences that allow students to feel ‘comfortable in their own skin’. Once the jitters of attending a new school seem to fade students undoubtedly seem to change. Even as a new student I noticed something different about the current students, but now that I am a ‘senior’ student I’ve noticed it with the most recent incoming class that I’ve seen this change into comfort.


The comfort doesn’t necessarily mean school is easy! It just means that I have noticed most students here feel comfortable being themselves. Because folk here are uniquely and beautifully themselves I tend to use ‘weird’ only as a term of endearment. If my friends here weren’t themselves I couldn’t be me! I want them to be all that they can be, and I wish the same for all new students as well!

Therefore the one thing I would want to tell someone about my Prescott College experience that they might not figure out via the website or something is:

“Be totally uniquely and beautifully you; and not to worry about ever not being yourself! Everyone here is wonderfully weird/unique/characterful and it’s seriously AWESOME! This environment genuinely wishes people to thrive and all who they are meant to be. However long it takes will be just fine at its own pace, people find comfort at different times. This is a journey after all and journeys are meant to be enjoyed!”


(L-R: Claire, Jack, Kyle, Matt, Morgoth, Lucy, Rafiki crossing the AZ border from CA going back to Prescott during a 16 hour van ride)


(Blog note: I was looking for silly pictures of students for the blog. After finding this picture and talking to Claire about the picture, I comment “why aren’t you and Jack being weird?!?” To which Claire replies “don’t get angry at us, Lucy looks normal too!” of which I subsequently lose it and start laughing because how ridiculous the argument was.)


May 2012
-Morgoth

Direct Interactions with Faculty

As a Prescott College student, I believe that one of the most important opportunities and resources that Prescott College students receive is the interaction with their teachers.  These interactions can be extremely powerful in terms of understanding the expectations of the teacher but also further understanding and receiving support.  All faculty members are very approachable and understanding, but it is left up to the student to, not only take ownership of one’s learning, but to meet with faculty and build that relationship.

The first semesters at Prescott College I felt a bit timid about approaching my professors.  I wasn’t sure what to think about them and I was a bit worried of what my professors thought of me. I was used to having a more teacher centered way of learning.  The teachers know the material and teach it, while the student ask questions.  There was only a teacher student relationship and teachers seemed unapproachable after class  to ask questions or find more clarification.  My experience here at Prescott College has changed the way that I look at education and my experience with my teachers. There is a tremendous value in knowing your teachers and having the ability to meet or talk with them frequently in class or outside of class.  

    As I took more classes with teachers I started to further my understanding of their teaching style and their expectations as teachers.   As these understandings grew so did our relationship.  Some of my professors meet me for coffee outside of class.  During these meetings we discuss everything from assignments for class to our thoughts on particular subjects.  I have some of my professors numbers in my phone and I am able to contact them most times if I feel like I need support.  

Building rapport with teachers has been one the most valuable assets that I have developed here at Prescott College.  Some of my greatest learning and understanding has come from conversations with faculty members.  Right now I am completing my senior project, which requires the participation of faculty and administration members.  I have had the tremendous opportunity of meeting with faculty and talk to them about how their programs and individual classes are meeting the learning objectives.  In my interview I am able to ask them a wide spectrum of questions.  The largest take away from my project so far is just how smart these individuals are and where their passions lay.  My biggest advice for first time freshmen and transfer students is MEET WITH YOUR TEACHERS!  Faculty members are the single most valuable resource at this school in my opinion and it is up to you to make those connections and have those conversations.  

~Eric Davis, 04.16.2012