Preface: This write-up is from senior Valerie Keller, who has worked in the Honors College office as our Content Marketing and Social Media Intern for the past two years. I asked her to tell her Honors story, and she graciously obliged. It’s a little long, but every word is incredibly important. Thank you, Val, for all of your hard work! You will be missed.
When I was a junior in high school, I—like most seventeen-year-olds—knew everything. In my college search I had compiled an arbitrary list of criteria that were at once randomly specific and impossibly broad.
I visited College of Charleston for the first time in April of 2010. On a Friday morning, my mother, sister and I set out for the Admissions Office to find our tour guide. We walked through Cougar Mall, past the clock in front of the Sottile House, and finally through Cistern Yard. Spanish moss draped across tree branches like Christmas tinsel and hot-pink azaleas burst from each side of the herringbone walkway. I tripped on a disrupted cobblestone and looked up, mortified, only to realize that none of the students walking around me had noticed—or if they did, they didn’t care. Randolph Hall stood regally above the Cistern, where I’d read that students graduated in white sundresses and dinner jackets. Tan, smiling students passed by, many of them with swimwear under their clothes. I was smitten.
“I’m going to college here,” I said decisively, before the tour even began.
Though my mom was skeptical (I’d only visited one other school), I think other College of Charleston students can attest that it’s instinctual. As soon as you set foot on campus, you know CofC is the place you’re meant to be.
Senior year came and, after many more college visits, I still had my heart set on Charleston. I visited again in November of 2010 and sat upstairs in the Honors Center with a handful of other prospective students and Maria Richardson, with whom I’d corresponded but never met. She spoke genuinely and excitedly about the opportunities of Honors, from Beyond George Street, to the impressive and intimidating Western Civ to the Bachelor’s Essay. The profile of accepted students seemed to align with my high school academic experience so, on a whim, I applied to Honors.
Commence the best four years of my life.
With some trepidation and no idea what to expect, I signed up to live in the Honors freshman residence hall. I took Honors Intro to International Studies, where I met Dr. Lisa Samuel, one of my all-time favorite professors, and almost declared an International Studies major after the first day of class. I joined my freshman peers in Beyond George Street and met a slew of new professors, all from different disciplines. My wonderful Peer Facilitator, Megan, tried to guide us toward self-discovery using the Four-Year Navigator. I gritted my teeth through Calculus and, to my surprise, really enjoyed Honors Geology.
That first semester was exhilarating and terrifying. We were inundated with information and asked to look years into the future in a way we never had before, on top of being away from home for the first time. I looked to Jill, Maria and Dr. Ganaway for guidance and reassurance, and I was comforted by the knowledge that everyone in Buist was in the same boat. Those first few months passed in a whirlwind of lessons and confusion and mistakes, but they laid the foundation: my Honors journey had begun.
Freshman spring meant a little more schedule flexibility. I finished up my math and science requirements with Statistics and more Honors Geology and was able to enroll in a class I was dying to take: Intro to Fiction Writing. I’d always loved to write but had little to no idea of what major I might declare. This beginning workshop class set me on the course I’d follow for the next four years. That spring I also went on the Honors College boat cruise, made a few more friends, learned how to do laundry without turning all my towels pink, and went to the beach almost every weekend.
I declared as an English major with a Creative Writing concentration (fiction emphasis) the next fall. I took a few introductory literature classes and faced down the next step in the Honors journey: Western Civ. (Dun dun dun!) I’d heard from older students that this was one of the more difficult courses in the Honors curriculum, and it was. At 6 credits per semester, it took up about half my study time. Despite its rigor, though, this was one of my favorite courses of college because I got exposed to so many different disciplines and professors. I met Dr. William Russell, who was my discussion professor in the fall and remains one of my mentors and close friends. He nominated me as President of the Literati English Club, which has been my favorite extracurricular of college for the past two years. In sophomore spring, I also completed my first internship. Though it was unpaid, I was able to get class credit for it, and the impact of the experience was inestimable: I worked at The History Press, a publishing house on Meeting Street, as a Sales, Marketing & Editorial Intern. My experience there helped me as I applied to be an Honors Center Student Intern. That summer, I got an email from Dr. Folds-Bennett stating that I’d been selected as the Content Marketing & Social Media Intern for the Honors College. Working at the Honors Center not only helped me synthesize the little experience I already had and put it to use; it helped me gain insight into the inner workings of Honors and see just how hard the Honors faculty and staff work to make this experience an optimal one for students. The advising system, whether one-on-one or in groups, is intensive and is designed to make sure that no student falls through the cracks with their GPA or Honors requirements.
Junior year meant an interdisciplinary course and independent study, both requirements of the Honors College. Interdisciplinarity and individual research are two of the cornerstones of the Honors College curriculum, and I was excited, if nervous, to begin work in these areas. I took my interdisciplinary course with Dr. Cara Delay, a history professor, studying the Irish famine from several different perspectives. I also designed an independent study with Dr. Susan Farrell, an English faculty member and former Western Civ instructor, where I read ten novels about mental illness and wrote a paper discussing the central themes and how they influenced the outcome of the protagonist. I tried to integrate my Honors requirements with the rest of my major courses, continuing with workshop and literature classes along with my independent study and interdisciplinary.
Senior year, I continued to serve as President of the Literati while I entered the final stages of my coursework here at the College. I began composing a Bachelor’s Essay, a 100-page collection of short fiction advised by Dr. Tony Varallo. I am currently taking the last requirement for my creative writing concentration, a capstone where I am composing an additional 50 pages of short fiction with Professor Bret Lott. I’m in my final semester of work at the Honors Center. I’m also in the twilight of my time in Charleston. I go to the beach and wonderful restaurants and happy hours I can’t afford and try to soak it all in before I move away.
Now, five years since my first visit, I am still enchanted by the Spanish moss, the lush bloom of azaleas and magnolias, the stately presence of Randolph Hall. I walk to work at the Honors Center breathing in the humidity and the smell of flowers, waving to the early-morning housekeeping and street-sweeping crews, greeting anyone I recognize. I sit in the library or upstairs in Honors 200, worrying over revisions to my Bachelor’s Essay, and come home late to my roommates, women I met my first day of living in Buist.
I love being a Cougar and taking part in the exciting aspects of life on the College of Charleston campus. But just as importantly, I love being a member of the Honors College. The personal attention I’ve received, the numerous opportunities I’ve been afforded, and the stimulating intellectual challenges inherent in the Honors curriculum have been what truly made my college experience as splendid as it was. My job, major, and extracurriculars were fulfilling and engaging and will make it really difficult to leave this place.
Knowing my time in Honors is coming to a close is devastating. However, I’ve begun to apply for jobs in publishing in New York City and San Francisco, many of which will call upon my marketing and social media background. I’ll graduate magna cum laude in May as a School of Humanities & Social Sciences Scholar, one of two chosen from the English Department, and as a nominee for Student Employee of the Year. I’m extremely proud of these accomplishments and know that without being a member of the Honors College, none of this would have been possible.
It’s been real, Honors. Thanks for everything.
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