I don't have a whole lot of time to respond to this right now, but I think you've hit the mark.
I only lasted at PEG for a semester and a half. A lot of it was because I suddenly got very, very ill, but a lot of it was also that I was seven hours away from home without any "adults" to look out for me except the staff. We weren't exactly encouraged to interact with the older PEGs and the trads. I had a trad "big sister" who I only spoke to twice during my months there. I think if I had someone to talk to who had been through a similar experience - for instance, a former PEG - I might have been able to handle things better.
I got "in trouble" for being friends with too many trads -- they thoght since I didn't hang out in the dorm, I had no friends. Really, I just was with the fencing crew mostly. (I was only there 1 year, 88-89).
I'm still cursed when applying to grad school because they want ALL my college transcripts, and the 1.6 I got at PEG screws with me forever -- never mind that I was 14-15, and the form asked "what courses would you LIKE to take", so I checked a lot of them, and then ended up with a college overload PLUS the PEG courses -- no advisors gave me useful limits. argh! Fortunately, so far for my master's, they accepted me provisionally and then I got in the rest of the way. But applying for more grad school -- same deal -- I feel PEG has slightly cursed me to be 'provisional' first forever.
I wonder if the varying perspectives correlate to when we went through PEG, how long we stayed, and how far along we are in life now. I also think you had your head on your shoulders far better than a lot of us. :)
We had very little involvement from older PEGs, unless we happened to be friends with them. None of the staff when I was there had ever been a PEG -- some of them had at least gone to MBC, but no one could relate to us on the level I sometimes think we needed them to. We weren't given "big sisters", so we kind of had to count on the staff, ourselves, or whoever we could get to advise us to help us out. And I know I hardly ever talked to my advisor, which didn't help either.
I guess I just think that having a resource that might actually be useful to you might be a good thing. I know it's been close to 9 years since I got out of MBC, so my college advising skills wouldn't be very good, but that's not really what I'm aiming for, either.
Need to think on this more when I have time to think on it.
I worked my way through the PEG/MBC system all on my own with almost no advice from the numerous people who were there to provide it -- which is my thing, not their's. I feel like my freshman year there were about a dozen people whose job it was to provide us with academic and social advice, including older PEGs, but I never felt like I needed that advice.
gvambat (now my girlfriend) and I became second-semester transitionals and moved out of the PEG dorm for our sophomore year. After that I relied on PEG for almost nothing but rides to the airport.
I'm currently in my first semester of an MA program, and yes, I am feeling that MBC failed to provide me with certain key advice about what kinds of preparation I'd need for further studies in my field, but this is definitely not a PEG failure; it's a Baldwin thing
( ... )
I'm class of 06, and I'm experinecing some of what you outlined. I think my internship my sophmore year (which I only got because of my own needling and begging, not because I actually knew what REUs were or how to apply for them) really opened my eyes to what the real world is like. I did my internship in Boston, and I remember sitting at my desk frozen in terror for the first afternoon after my parents dropped me off at my summer sublet. Fortunately, that was when I discovered the power of detailed lists
( ... )
I graduated '04 with a history major. Refused to think about the future until about half way through senior year, partially due to some complicated parental expectations. Until that time, had figured that I was smart and hard-working, a teenage phi beta kappa, distinction in my major, blah, blah, that it couldn't be that hard
( ... )
Re: Yeah....wisdomeagleOctober 23 2006, 20:22:59 UTC
To a certain extent, I suppose transitioning into the real world is difficult for everyone nowadays (particularly for shy liberal arts majors who have not been at all "career" oriented).
Re: Yeah....bouncingtoscaOctober 23 2006, 20:45:45 UTC
Hiya "wisdomeagle" I hope the grad school thing has started, and will continue to go well for you. Philosophy? What school are you at? I'd love to hear more about how you are doing.
Re: Yeah....wisdomeagleOctober 23 2006, 20:56:58 UTC
First year MA student at Andover Newton Theological School, currently flailing desperately about PhD options (and my lack of languages). (Immediately flailing about a mitderm I'm not writing.) I've basically long ago settled on the "religion" half of the philosophy-religion major, which is causing some minor varieties of flail in terms of where I stand within and outside of my tradition. Hm.
I'm living at home and not too unhappy about that, but the future is still vast and slightly terrifying.
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I only lasted at PEG for a semester and a half. A lot of it was because I suddenly got very, very ill, but a lot of it was also that I was seven hours away from home without any "adults" to look out for me except the staff. We weren't exactly encouraged to interact with the older PEGs and the trads. I had a trad "big sister" who I only spoke to twice during my months there. I think if I had someone to talk to who had been through a similar experience - for instance, a former PEG - I might have been able to handle things better.
Reply
I'm still cursed when applying to grad school because they want ALL my college transcripts, and the 1.6 I got at PEG screws with me forever -- never mind that I was 14-15, and the form asked "what courses would you LIKE to take", so I checked a lot of them, and then ended up with a college overload PLUS the PEG courses -- no advisors gave me useful limits. argh! Fortunately, so far for my master's, they accepted me provisionally and then I got in the rest of the way. But applying for more grad school -- same deal -- I feel PEG has slightly cursed me to be 'provisional' first forever.
Reply
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We had very little involvement from older PEGs, unless we happened to be friends with them. None of the staff when I was there had ever been a PEG -- some of them had at least gone to MBC, but no one could relate to us on the level I sometimes think we needed them to. We weren't given "big sisters", so we kind of had to count on the staff, ourselves, or whoever we could get to advise us to help us out. And I know I hardly ever talked to my advisor, which didn't help either.
I guess I just think that having a resource that might actually be useful to you might be a good thing. I know it's been close to 9 years since I got out of MBC, so my college advising skills wouldn't be very good, but that's not really what I'm aiming for, either.
Need to think on this more when I have time to think on it.
Reply
I worked my way through the PEG/MBC system all on my own with almost no advice from the numerous people who were there to provide it -- which is my thing, not their's. I feel like my freshman year there were about a dozen people whose job it was to provide us with academic and social advice, including older PEGs, but I never felt like I needed that advice.
gvambat (now my girlfriend) and I became second-semester transitionals and moved out of the PEG dorm for our sophomore year. After that I relied on PEG for almost nothing but rides to the airport.
I'm currently in my first semester of an MA program, and yes, I am feeling that MBC failed to provide me with certain key advice about what kinds of preparation I'd need for further studies in my field, but this is definitely not a PEG failure; it's a Baldwin thing ( ... )
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Well, there's that.
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I hope the grad school thing has started, and will continue to go well for you. Philosophy? What school are you at? I'd love to hear more about how you are doing.
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I'm living at home and not too unhappy about that, but the future is still vast and slightly terrifying.
It's good to know that you're still alive. :)
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