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For the second year in a row, Holy Cross faculty are strongly encouraging second-year students to participate in the College’s rich elective program offerings through the Second-Year Opportunities Program, or “2YO.”
There is more to the three years remaining in a sophomore’s college life than successful completion of the degree requirements—which include 32 intensive courses in eight semesters of full-time study at Holy Cross, according to Victoria L. Swigert, a member of this year’s 2YO organizing committee and assistant dean of the Class of 2008.
The program apprises second-year students of the range of resources and opportunities available, encourages them to think about how these resources and opportunities fit with their own interests and goals, and helps them to plan accordingly.
“Minors, concentrations, study away and abroad, special academic and advisory programs, internships, college and departmental honors programs, and post-baccalaureate opportunities are among the ways students can distinguish their undergraduate careers," says Swigert.
The 2YO program is an innovative initiative. This fall’s program consists of four events—including the “Academic Extravaganza,” which allows second-year students to browse displays showcasing the academic offerings at Holy Cross and to talk with program directors and department chairs.
Other upcoming events include an address by Dr. Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health, a small public charity. Dr. Farmer is the subject of Tracy Kidder’s recent book, Mountains Beyond Mountains, which the students were assigned to read during the summer. In November, the College will host, “‘ Beyond Mountains There Are Mountains’: Where do you want to go?”—a “conversation” guided by academic and professional staff on the relevance of Farmer’s extraordinary life and work to the second-year experience.
A curriculum review group started at the College several years ago indicated that it was necessary to stress the importance of a strong integrated college experience.
“The rationale for 2YO was recognition that sophomores are a transitional cohort," Swigert says. “First-year students have all sorts of advisory assistance—orientation, mandatory advising appointments at the beginning of the semester, the first-year program. Over the past decade, there has been an explosion of academic programs. Students need to know about these opportunities, and they need to plan for them—and early in their academic careers.”
The Lilly Endowment provided financial support for the initiative through a grant to help students reflect on their vocation. 2YO gives students the means to think about how a variety of academic programs can help fulfill their life and career choices.
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