For engineer, O-Week exceeds expectations
Martel College freshman Kristin Anderson did not know what to expect when she first arrived at Rice.
“I thought, I don’t know what I’m getting myself into, but it’ll be fun,” Anderson said.
A Potomac, Maryland-native, Anderson said she first heard about Rice when her brother was applying to schools. She said she decided to come to Rice because she was looking for a small engineering school and liked the residential college system.
“I like the small class sizes,” Anderson said. “I talked to some people who went to Rice and some people currently going to Rice, and … everyone was really positive about it.”
Anderson said she likes everything about Rice except the Recreation Center.
Orientation Week was a pleasant surprise for Anderson, who expected it to be boring and filled with meetings.
“It was a lot of fun,” Anderson said. “I just thought it wouldn’t really be fun, so I was really surprised at things like [Martel’s group obstacle course] Maptek. It was a good way to start off the year.”
After O-Week, Anderson said people continued to be friendly and open-minded.
“I’ve been talking to friends at other universities,” Anderson said. “They’ve been saying that people don’t want to get to know the freshmen. Here, it seems like that’s not true — everyone really wants to get to know freshmen, and they’re really accepting of new people.”
Anderson, who is considering majoring in either mechanical or bioengineering, said she enjoys her classes even though they require a lot of reading.
“Everyone seems to really like learning here,” Anderson said. “They have an interest in learning instead of just getting their work done — that’s something that I haven’t really seen before, especially in high school.”
One of Anderson’s biggest adjustments was how homework is assigned, she said.
“They expect you to do a lot of work on your own,” she said. “In high school, [you have] a set amount of work to do every night.”
A track athlete in high school, Anderson said she plans to play Powderpuff football and may join crew.
“I’m still looking into that stuff right now,” Anderson said. “I’d like to join some other clubs, but I’m not sure yet.”
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