Ask LAV
Dear LAV,
I'm planning a visit to Whitman College in a week or two and I wanted to know if you had any recommendations. I love to ski, I'm not especially good but I do alright. I also am very interested in physics. Are there any special things I might want to see/do at the college that might help me get a feel for physics at Whitman or skiing
near Whitman? I really enjoy reading your blog, sometimes it is just what I need to remind myself to keep training.
Thank you for any help you can give me!
Kira from Minnesota
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Kira from the M-to-tha-N,
I'm so glad to hear that you're interested in my alma mater! Whitman was a great place for me to go to college. I found the institution and the faculty to be incredibly accommodating and supportive of my (and my classmates') extracurricular pursuits.
Be sure to give the Nordic coach, Calisa Schouweiler a call and set up a meeting with her: (509)522-4438. She's from the midwest (Tomohawk, WI; St. Cloud, MN; Madison, WI) so she should be able to understand your skiing background pretty readily. You can find a nice article about Calisa on the Whitman Athletics website HERE. Even if you're not super fast right now, Whitman is a good place to go to get better. The ski team is super supportive and works a lot on development. If you want to check out where you would be skiing you can head up to Spout Springs Ski Area in the Blue Mountains to the SE of Walla Walla. I hear there's some good hikes up there but you'll have to ask someone at Whitman where the trailheads might be-- I've only been up there on my skis or on my road bike.
As for the academics, Whitman will certainly give you a rock solid education. If you're interested in research there's plenty of opportunity for collaborating on projects with professors. If you're super hard core about physics you'd probably want to go to a bigger university (like UC Berkely) where there is seriously intense physics going on. But there you wouldn't have the same kind of personal relationship with your professors (and might not even get to work on research). On the other hand, if you're into practical physics and know you want to be an engineer, you should probably go to a more practical university. In general I think that Whitman is a good place to go to college if you're not exactly sure what you want to be but want to be able to do anything you want after you graduate.
Enjoy your visit, there's a lot to think about when you're deciding where you want to spend the next four years but I think it mostly comes down to your gut reaction about a school. Go into the Science building, find a nice seat (I recommend the third floor couch at the corner facing out to Ankeny Field & the Library!), and ask yourself if you can see yourself being here everyday and being happy about it. Any college will suck if you're not happy and any college will rock if you're happy.
LAV
I'm planning a visit to Whitman College in a week or two and I wanted to know if you had any recommendations. I love to ski, I'm not especially good but I do alright. I also am very interested in physics. Are there any special things I might want to see/do at the college that might help me get a feel for physics at Whitman or skiing
near Whitman? I really enjoy reading your blog, sometimes it is just what I need to remind myself to keep training.
Thank you for any help you can give me!
Kira from Minnesota
---
Kira from the M-to-tha-N,
I'm so glad to hear that you're interested in my alma mater! Whitman was a great place for me to go to college. I found the institution and the faculty to be incredibly accommodating and supportive of my (and my classmates') extracurricular pursuits.
Be sure to give the Nordic coach, Calisa Schouweiler a call and set up a meeting with her: (509)522-4438. She's from the midwest (Tomohawk, WI; St. Cloud, MN; Madison, WI) so she should be able to understand your skiing background pretty readily. You can find a nice article about Calisa on the Whitman Athletics website HERE. Even if you're not super fast right now, Whitman is a good place to go to get better. The ski team is super supportive and works a lot on development. If you want to check out where you would be skiing you can head up to Spout Springs Ski Area in the Blue Mountains to the SE of Walla Walla. I hear there's some good hikes up there but you'll have to ask someone at Whitman where the trailheads might be-- I've only been up there on my skis or on my road bike.
As for the academics, Whitman will certainly give you a rock solid education. If you're interested in research there's plenty of opportunity for collaborating on projects with professors. If you're super hard core about physics you'd probably want to go to a bigger university (like UC Berkely) where there is seriously intense physics going on. But there you wouldn't have the same kind of personal relationship with your professors (and might not even get to work on research). On the other hand, if you're into practical physics and know you want to be an engineer, you should probably go to a more practical university. In general I think that Whitman is a good place to go to college if you're not exactly sure what you want to be but want to be able to do anything you want after you graduate.
Enjoy your visit, there's a lot to think about when you're deciding where you want to spend the next four years but I think it mostly comes down to your gut reaction about a school. Go into the Science building, find a nice seat (I recommend the third floor couch at the corner facing out to Ankeny Field & the Library!), and ask yourself if you can see yourself being here everyday and being happy about it. Any college will suck if you're not happy and any college will rock if you're happy.
LAV
posted by LAV at 07:21
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