University of Vermont Experience

Introduction

Experience is the best concise statement about education. While accommodation at the university in the US, for instance, the University of Vermont, can be a major part of campus experience among learners, other features may also be significant in student’s life. From my understanding, participating in clubs and other activities improves familiarity within the organization. In this circumstance, being active in the university helps the student to settle and make friends. Moreover, UVM is committed to training learners to prepare for life after college.  Essentially, this institution is unique. Based on my knowledge, distinctiveness comes from typical qualities that make its activities inviting and outdoorsy. Since students aim at making the university a more multicultural, competitive, and affirmative one, subjects of inclusion and expansion influence one’s individual experience at university. The aim of this paper is to develop a general understanding of the core diversity concept that reflects the personal know-how at universities in the US. Personally, while studying at one of these institutions, precisely the University of Vermont, I have gone through different experiences, both positive and negative. Therefore, I will explore my university education in the US because this experience has improved my proficiency and skills during exposure to different activities.

Career Planning

At the moment I entered college, it seemed to me that my career was beginning to take shape. I was no longer in high school where learning took a more general form. In college, learning was oriented at my future goals. I started self-reflecting as to whether I had made the best career choice. Although I was still in college, I envisioned my life after it as recommended by Bader (2011). It entailed choosing the right majors. According to Bader (2011), college students and their parents often ponder what life holds after completing studies; as a result, he advises planning one’s life that comes after college boldly (p. 230). It is because every choice made in college affects the probability of fulfilling one’s dream.

Residential Life

According to researchers, students who live in a campus realize greater academic success, participate in social activities, and interact more with various departments and faculties (Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley, & Pearce, 2009). Consequently, I experienced greater satisfaction at school. For this reason, the Board of Residential Life was committed to creating a living and learning environment that could enhance a perfect vision, mission, and values of the University. As a matter of fact, at the University of Vermont, the department housed 93% of the student population in various campuses (García & Roblin, 2008). Besides, the University had a functional graduate and non-traditional student community that resided at available apartments and in the family housing area. Full-time and part-time graduate professionals responsible for the residential life operated through residential education, facilities operation, and administrative services. Along with undergraduate students and staff members, I was committed to making the campus living experience positive.

Freedom Experience

While at the University, the only freedom of great importance for me was the freedom of intelligence, observation, and judgment exercised for the purposes that were intrinsically worthwhile. A mistake that most students made about this kind of freedom was to relate it to the freedom of movement or the physical side of the activity. However, it was difficult for me to separate the external side of university activities from the internal one, which included the liberty of thought, desire, and purpose. According to scholars, the educational problem, especially in US universities, was not solved until the aspect of the freedom of movement was not achieved (Woodall, Hiller, & Resnick, 2014). The reason was that, without the existence of freedom, it was practically impossible for lecturers to enlarge knowledge of students. Similarly, in all universities, enclosed quietness and acquiescence prevented students from exposing their actual characters. In addition, the absence of any freedom in the university placed a premium on preserving the outward appearance of attention, decorum and obedience (Brownlee et al., 2009).

Academic Support Programs

During my school years, I had access to such academic support projects as cooperative learning and two TRIO programs. After I had become a student, these support programs offered me an opportunity to develop skills, acquire information and engage in activities that would enhance my academic success. Besides, I gained access to provide services to students with disabilities to participate in a barrier-free surrounding. At the University of Vermont, cooperative learning improved student education, learning skills, and success through a range of high quality and peer-to-peer academic services, such as subject-area lecturing, supplemental instruction, and the assistance of the writing center. In fulfilling the mission and the goals of the University of Vermont, I had to follow the core values, including advancing diversity and multiculturalism. In the same situation, there was the need to make a commitment to equity and the ethical use of power, promote access to the university fraternity, support continuing learning and collegiality, strive to balance autonomy and interest independence, and put fellow students at the center of decisions and services.

Sporting Experience

Athletics was one of the sporty activities, in which I participated while at the university as it enhanced my talent and abilities. In this case, the University of Vermont was responsible for three distinct equivalent programs: basic instruction, campus recreation and intercollegiate athletics. Additionally, the section managed all university athletic and recreation facilities that accommodated these programs. In fact, the latter directly served eleven thousand different students, faculty and the staff (University of Vermont, 2015). Out of these units, the intercollegiate athletes program, in which I participated, had twenty varsity sports, involving more than four hundred students. On the other hand, the campus recreation program saw approximately 301,156 learners visiting the University athletic complex and supporting the intramural sports program that consisted of 29 sports with around 3,135 participants (University of Vermont, 2015). Therefore, the staff was committed to allowing me to participate in recreational activities as an essential component of the University experience. Likewise, the basic instruction program administered 3,300 credits of instructions majorly to undergraduate students. Nevertheless, the mission of the program favored me as it incorporated quality instructional plans that could develop skills, attitudes, interests and knowledge about physical activity as a way of enhancing better life (University of Vermont, 2015). As a member of the athletic club, it was imperative for me to visit lessons not only to enjoy a game, but also to win a competition during seasons and use my abilities in the developing world.

Challenges

Over the past decades, universities have faced challenges that affect students, staff and the entire community (Brownlee et al., 2009). These have led to significant transformations in the mission, governance, knowledge, production, and relation with the broad national, regional and world economies and societies. Speaking from personal experience, there were several problems that I went through at the University of Vermont in the US. In particular, the most severe risk was the commercialization of education programs, mainly as a result of the growing number of degree mills and low-quality providers (Barlow, 2011). In return, there was an influx of undergraduates at the university, and this condition led to congestion and poor accommodation facilities. Another challenge was poor handling of conflicting demands because the community college staff boasted that a variety of classes allowed students to arrange their school schedule around their outside obligations. As a result, administrators did not create coordinated plans, and different time arrangements of some courses had been not offered for several semesters. In this circumstance, schedules were tough to coordinate with the outside work (Woodall, Hiller, & Resnick, 2014). Another problem was a rise of for-profit firms in all aspects of higher education governance (Brownlee et al., 2009). Due to this activity, a rapid growth in the role of the for-profit sector involved in higher education provision raised critical issues of quality and accountability. These for-profit organizations were the fastest growing components of higher learning in the USA (Shinn, 2014). Moreover, these firms benefited from the expansion of access to higher education and the ability of students to use federal student loans to pay fees. In contrast, some for-profit organizations were under probe because of their high-pressure selling tactics offered to students without jobs.

Conclusion

Universities in the United States, particularly the University of Vermont, form an educationally purposeful community seeking to prepare students to stay in a diverse and transforming world. As a member who have lived, studied and conducted research, I think that such universities believe in the transforming powers of education and the creation and fostering of the environment where individuals can discover and reach their true potentials. Studying at these universities leads to many achievements regarding the character, life experience, and other possibilities. From the paper, it is apparent that students who live in campuses in the US stand a greater chance of experiencing the freedom of movement and actions. Besides, learners can participate in academic support programs and athletics that expose them to the outside world as well as nurture talents and develop cross-cultural activities. Such universities aspire to be a member of the community that values respect, integrity, innovation, openness, justice and responsibility.