Hey everyone! 新年あけましておめでとうございます今年もどうぞよろしくお願いします、in Japanese, it means Happy New Year! Looking forward to a great year with you. I’m currently in Japan, spending the New Year with my family, and as we kick off this new year, I’d like to reflect on my first semester at Amherst College through a series of blog posts. The posts will cover three main areas: Academics, Extracurricular Activities, and On-Campus Employment.I hope through this series of blog posts, you will be able to see my experience at Amherst College and offer you a glimpse of what the life is like at Amherst College.
To kick off the series, I’ll be reflecting on my academic journey during my first semester at Amherst College.
POSC 154 The State
The class was organized around discussions, allowing us to explore the core areas of political science through six key subfields: political theory, comparative politics, international relations, political economy, American politics, and law and constitutions. Through engaging with a variety of texts, we deepened our understanding of these subjects.
With nearly 30 students, the class followed a discussion-based format, but unlike traditional large lectures, it was divided into five smaller groups of five or six students. Each session, the groups rotated, with a different group sitting in the first row. This seating arrangement provided students with more opportunities to contribute and actively participate in the discussions. The dynamic structure of the class promoted a more interactive and inclusive learning environment.
Among the many critical texts we read, my favorites were Leviathan by Hobbes and Charles Tilly’s “War Making and State Making as Organized Crime.“
COSC 111 Intro to Computer Science
In this course, we learned the fundamentals of programming through Java. The course consisted mainly of lectures and labs, with approximately 30-40 students per section, and there were two sections in total. On Mondays and Wednesdays, the professor delivered a 50-minute lecture, during which we absorbed and processed new knowledge. Fridays were dedicated to a smaller lab of around 20 students, where we worked in groups of three or four to apply what we had learned. The lab sessions were very collaborative, with the professors occasionally offering hints and guidance to help us solve problems. Some of the example problems we tackled included creating adjusted versions of merge and insertion sorts, applying recursive programming, and developing card games.
What I loved most about this class was how engaging Professors Matteo and Wu were. They facilitated anonymous discussion sections, which allowed students to ask questions freely without fear of judgment in the online forum. This helped create an inclusive environment where everyone felt comfortable participating.Additionally, the professors referred to their “office hours” as “student hours,” reflecting Amherst professors’ strong commitment to teaching and supporting students’ educational journeys.
For my final project, I created a Mario game complete with music, sound effects, and PNG images. One of my friends made a traditional Mahjong game.
FYSE 119 Coexistance
As you may know, all freshmen are required to enroll in a First-Year Seminar course, where students explore various topics through writing. One of the main goals of this course is to develop college-level writing skills. My class, like many others, consisted of around 10 to 15 students, which fostered a strong sense of community and close interaction with the professor. In fact, many students form lifelong connections through this class.
The focus of our class was the concept of coexistence or convivencia in medieval Spain, a period during which Muslims, Christians, and Jews coexisted and interacted in a variety of ways. We examined this era from multiple perspectives, including art, history, music, and more.
Additionally, we participated in community service at a local organization, where we explored how cuisine can bring people from different backgrounds together.
For this course, we wrote three essays of varying lengths, each focusing on different writing skills. The first essay helped us practice writing without relying heavily on textual evidence. The second essay centered on a single text from the course, requiring us to synthesize ideas and create a cohesive argument. For the third essay, we incorporated multiple texts, learning how to draw connections and support our arguments with a variety of sources.
STAT 108 Stat Ethics Institutions
What set this course apart from others was its unique focus on examining statistics production from an ethical perspective. It was fascinating to explore how statistical methods and decisions can have ethical implications, especially in real-world contexts.
One of the highlights of this course was that Professor Andreas Georgiou flew in from Washington D.C. each week to teach us. His dedication to the course and his commitment to offering us a valuable learning experience were evident throughout the semester.
At Amherst, students have numerous opportunities to engage with professors and industry leaders beyond the campus, and this course was a prime example of that. It was incredibly insightful to hear Professor Georgiou share his experiences, particularly as the former head of the statistical office in Greece and his extensive work with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over several decades. His perspective added a unique depth to the course, making it even more enriching.